Monday, February 27, 2012

Lynd Ward on "side-tracking the human tendency to fall into ruts"

Not all of Lynd Ward's wood engravings were done for books - he did on occasion work for advertising and editorial clients.

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One memorable late 1940s series of ads was commissioned by the U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company and resulted in Ward's inclusion in the 1947 and '48 NY Art Director's Annuals.

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Ward also worked in other media besides wood engraving. That labour intensive process wasn't always ideal for every assignment - nor was Ward averse to working in paint, pencil and ink. Here are a few early 1950s pieces by Lynd Ward from Collier's magazine.

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Ward said, "Although I have a special fondness for wood engraving, I would not want to limit myself to that one medium alone."

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"Working in materials such as watercolor, oil, lithography and brush drawing in black and white has an important effect on my work in wood when I return to it after a sojourn with a less obdurate medium."

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"It is partly a matter of side-tracking the human tendency to fall into ruts - in the way we think, in the way we solve our problems of both subject matter and rendering."

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"It is also a matter, I believe, of being challenged to try to get in wood some of the freer qualities of the more easily manipulated materials."

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2 comments:

  1. I remember seeing this stuff and much preferring it to his somewhat portentous {sub- Masreel) work.
    ps.Is the new posting system supposed to be an improvement?

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  2. As a surveyor the top pic makes me nervous. Shooting a line on a rickety platform with a helicopter pushing wind at the instrument is good for about 5 minutes of error at least. I have the guys books on my amazon wish list. Years ago my keyboardist got a copy of the one with the artist and the pen. Blew me away. Pun intended?

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