Lynd Ward

Lynd Ward hits all my favorite aspects of the mercurial world of art and design. Here is the son of a leader of the Methodist Church whose work unabashedly depicts the underside of the Depression Era city and the undead creatures of gothic horror (often in the buff). His work embodies the height of graphic narrative and the depth of pulp chunkiness. The elite halls of the gallery and chummy confines of the childrens’ library nook. Comfortable with brush or knife, his work carries an expressionistic zeal to it that would go on to influence comic books, illustration and printmaking well into the 21st. Century. Mighty impressive for a man whose work primarily consisted of no more than 2 to 3 colors per image.

TIMELINE

• Born 1905, second child to Harry Frederick Ward and Harriet May Kendall Ward, in Chicago Illinois- contract Tuberculosis, prompting move to Lonely Lake, Ontario. Stays sickly as a kid
• 1915. Begins interest in art by reading and copying Dore’s Bible. This is encouraged by mother with trips to art museums in Boston where the family has moved.
• 1922. Attends Teachers College at Columbia University. Meets wife, May McNeer there.
• 1926. Graduates from Columbia and studied for a year in Leipzig at the Staatliche Akademie für Graphische Kunste und Buchgewerbe. Heavily influenced by working wood engraver Theodore Mueller
• 1927. Discovers the work of Frans Masereel- another major influence, and heads back to US to start working freelance in publishing
• 1928. Begins receiving commissions, working in a variety of formats
• 1929. Publishes Gods’ Man with Cape & Smith Publishing- comes out week of Wall Street Crash but sells more than 20 thousand copies.
• 1930. Publishes Mad Man’s Drum, loses first child after premature birth. Spends Winter in Paris and learns how to play the accordion.
• 1931. Essentially a superstar illustrator at this point, his wife quips that he works from 9 AM to midnight, Seven days a week (good god), apparently he kept this pace into his 60s. Co-founds the Equinox Press.
• 1932. Wild Pilgrimage published by Smith and Haas. (Insane output of work over a 4 year period)
• 1935. Helps found American Artists’ Congress
• 1936: Produces Song Without Words
• 1937. Named supervisor of the Graphic Arts Division of the New york Chapter of the Federal Arts Project. Vertigo is published. The Haunted Omnibus Published
• 1938. Helps Hans Alexander Mueller and his wife flee Germany, and aids in him getting work, including writing Woodcuts & Wood Engravings: How I Make Them, a process that leads to the dissolving of Equinox. His most ambitious illustration project, over 500 drawings for an edition of Les Miserable is published. (Again, an insane amount of work for 10 years).
• 1939. Became first Chairman of the Union of American Artists
• 1940. Abandons “woodcut novel” form. Contributes illustration to Psychology study/text Adolescent Fantasy...
• 1943. Illustrates Esther Forbes’s Johnny Tremain, which wins the 1944 Newberry Award and starts long working relationship with Hoghton Mifflin and children’s editor Mary Silva Cosgrave.
• 1945-152. Continues to win awards and rack up work for Houghton Mifflin and places like The Atlantic Monthly
• 1952. Writes and illustrates The Biggest Bear, which would win the Caldecott the following year.
• 1962- Accepts mural commission from the United Methodist Church- takes 7 years.
• 1965. Nic of the Woods published
• 1966. Gods’ Man and Wild Pilgrimage republished, leading to renewed interest in work as part of the 1960s counterculture scene.
• 1973. The Silver Pony published
• 1974 Storyteller Without Words Published by Abrams
• 1985 Dies.

REFERENCES

Ward, Lynd (2009). Vertigo: A novel in woodcuts. Dover Publications, Inc.

Ward, Lynd (1974). Storyteller without words; The wood engravings of Lynd Ward. Abrams.

Ward, Lynd (2010). Six novels in woodcuts. Library of America.

Ward, Lynd (1965). Nic of the woods. Houghton Mifflin.

Jones, Stephen (2015). The art of horror: An illustrated history. Applause.