Catalogue of The First Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Woodcuts

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There are a total of 41 woodcut artists and 111 prints in this catalogue.
This exhibit was at the Brooklyn Museum as Woodcut Society: 01st Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Woodcuts, June 6, 1933 through June 30, 1933.

(courtesy of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, accessed December 4, 2010. Brooklyn Museum, http://brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/1509, accessed February 22, 2010)  

Contemporary Woodcuts 1932 - Traveling Exhibition

Alfred Fowler learned about the wood blocks of Richardson Rome through the Alden Galleries and John Bender. When Fowler assembled the first exhibition of Contemporary Woodcuts in 1932, Rome's work was included, along with wood blocks by Fred Geary.

In his introduction to Prints 1490-1995, The Collections of the Nelson-Adkins Museum, curator George L. McKenna spoke about the traveling exhibits arranged by the Woodcut Society, "In addition, the Society sponsored traveling exhibitions, opening in Kansas City, in 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936, of woodcuts by contemporary American and European artists. Participants submitted two impressions of each of their prints, one for circulation and one for a permanent collection. The latter, comprising 212 examples, was presented to the (Nelson-Adkins) Museum between 1935 and 1939, forming the nucleus of our holdings of modern woodcuts." (The Collections of the Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art: Prints, 1460-1995 by George L. McKenna, 1996, pg.xi, courtesy of Carrollton Public Library, 1 North Folger Street, Carrollton, Missouri, United States, accessed December 31, 2010)


In his publication The Story of The Woodcut Society (1934) John Bender noted, while the commissioned prints by the Society were important, "its annual exhibitions are of considerable importance to the arts of the woodcut in general. Woodcuts designed or cut during the calendar year are eligible and the shows are called Exhibitions of Contemporary Woodcuts to indicate that they include current prints only. The exhibition for the 1932 traveled for a year and a half and was viewed by thousands of people in a dozen of our cities. The exhibition for 1933 is now being shown under the auspices of the College Art Association. No prizes are offered, but it is thought that the artists benefit greatly by having their prints brought to the attention of so many people and a considerable number of sales usually result. All inquiries for the purchase of prints are referred directly to the artists themselves and no commission is charged, since the Society has nothing to do with the matter after referring it to the artist who work is involved." (excerpt from The Story of The Woodcut Society, October 1934, p. 9, edited by John Bender and published by the Alden Galleries, 1026 Baltimore Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri, courtesy of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, accessed December 4, 2010. Colored type has been added by me.)

passing on curiousity - john bender

John Bender was a connoisseur like Alfred Fowler. "One who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and is competent to act as a critical judge."  As such, he gained much pleasure from learning how an etching or an engraving was created, what kind of metal plate was used, how the ink was prepared, the type of papers used for printing, and the different impressions that could be made from the same plate. He acquired reference books. Some of which were difficult to find. His library had a number of out-of-print volumes.

 

Bender was curious and more than eager to pass on this contagious attribute to ordinary folks like you and I. Through small booklets you could hold in your hand, 4 3/4 by 6 inches, you were given access to an exciting world. 

From 1931 to 1936, Bender made it his quest to entertain and spread curiosity through his monthly volume called Fine Prints. Double click on text sections to see it larger.

For more on Levon West, click HERE.

On occasion Bender used humor.

 

(definition on connoisseur, www.Merriam-Webster.com, accessed December 23, 2010. Fine Prints, December 1931, pg 2-6, February 1932, pg.22, courtesy of Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th St, Kansas City, MO, accessed December 4, 2010. Private Holdings, http://privatelibraryholdings.com/id84.html, accessed November 19, 2010. C.A. Seward, 1884 - 1939, http://www.casewardprintmaker.com/artists_letters/Levon_West_lttrs_2_2_2.html, accessed December 26, 2010)

Fowler Steps Up

When Sheldon Cheney folded up shop in May of 1910, he hoped another like-minded person would continue his work. Ten months later, the correspondence address changed from Berkley, California to Kansas City, Missouri. The new editor was H. Alfred (Fred) Fowler. Under his stay The Bookplate Booklet looked and felt exactly the same. There was an index page, an index to the Illustrations, a request for literary contributions, and news from around the bookplate world. Such as, "The Association Book Company of New York under James F. Drake, has just published a catalogue of proofs and prints by English and American Engravers from Mr. Spenceley's personal collection." Or, "The Graphic Arts and Crafts Year Book for 1909, a review of the engravers, printing, and allied industries, published at Hamilton, Ohio should be of special interest to bookplate designers....." Ads were placed by E. Lister of 104 Manchester in Oldham, England offering a "Catalouge of 2,000 Bookplates" to be mailed free to any part of the world; "Bookplates of Well-Known Americans" by Clifford N. Carver of Princeton, New Jersey; "Masonic Book-Plates" by A. Winthrop Pope, out of Newton, Massachuesttes; "Indiana Bookplaters" by Miss Esther Griffin White, with plates by Meredith Nicholson, James Whitcomb Riley, Gearge Barr McCutcheon, Edward Eggleston, Booth Tarkington, David Stuart Jordon, William Dudley Foulke, and Gov. Thomas R Marshall are reproduced in this Hoosier book; Frank B. Siegrist, a Bookplate Engraver from Kansas City; and Specialty Printing by Frank V. Barhydt of Kansas City printed the Booklet. There were bookplate owners that wanted to exchange plates with other collectors. Such as, "Harold G. Rugg, Dartmouth College Library, Hanover, N.H: exchanges the two Darmouth College plates by J. W. Spenceley for plates by the above-named artists "(Feb. 1908, Vol.2, No.1). Of note, exchange requests came as near as Lawrence, Kansas and from as far as Vienna, Austria. Fowler himself placed an ad requesting book-plates.

Fowler tried on a couple occasions to bring something special to his readers. Take the inked impression from the original copperplate done by Miss Bertha Gorst. It took special steps to insert that etching proof into the book (Bookplate Booklet, September 1911, Volume 4, Number 3, page thirty-five). The text read: "Although more widely known for her "Etchings of Chester," Miss Bertha Gorst, who is an associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and a member of many other well-known societies and associations of artists, has done some very creditable work in the field of book-plates.The "Etchings of Chester" are views of historical places in and about that quaint old town, and so faithfully do they render the spirit of the subjects that their depiction of the old buildings seems to express their very atmosphere of antique and legendary suggestion. And this same elusive quality is an attraction in many of her book-plates, one of them being the Gwendoline Buckler, of which we present an impression from the copperplate. This plate shows a view of Nuremberg taken from Durer's "St. Anthony"--it has been the subject for much comment on the part of ex libris critics and was at one time given honorable mention in the German Ex Libris Society Journal." In 1912 Fowler went on to publish a small folio of seven original copper etching impressions by Gorst with tissue guards to each with a facing page quoting a passage of John Ruskin. That work was called Gothic Bookplates.

Take his Ex Libran experiment published in 1912 on his private press. He limited the edition to 400 copies and printed it on Italian hand-made paper. He wanted the volume to have a one-of-a-kind appearance, something collectors would be privileged to own. Fowler personally attended to every detail, including setting the type, sewing the covers, and pasting the inserts.The type font looked like a medieval manuscript. The contents, surprisingly enough, continued advocating the engravers of bookplates. Click on link to view the Ex Libran for yourself.

Karl Marxhausen comments: To understand to hand printing process of a copperplate etching and a woodblock I have included a link to Bill Ritchie's video at Print Universe. There is the dampening of special paper, and the alignment of plates, but it will give you a better idea of the steps etching printers go through to produce a single print. Another contemporary video shows the hand-stitched book-making process Fowler "might" have used to create his Ex Libran volume.

Story Within A Story's Story

This blog is about one man who lived in the town I now live in. He did wood engravings. He was from Carrollton, Missouri. The clippings I have found at the library say he took up xylography on his own. His artist life seemed to be isolated. Was it really all by himself???? Or, was he aware of the new wave of art which was being birthed across America???? This is one thread.

Another fellow who left no paper trail about himself left a BIG IMPRINT on the art scene with the Woodcut Society he founded. With no internet, no computers, no technology, he brought a variety of modern wood engraving into many places. When the Woodcut Society prints were presented to the Nelson-Adkins Museum in Kansas City, FIVE OF FRED GEARY'S WOOD ENGRAVINGS were among the 212 examples. (McKenna, George, Prints 1460-1995: The Collections of the Nelson-Adkins Museum of Art, 1996, p.269) How did H. Alfred Fowler meet Fred Geary??? This is one thread.

Did Geary interact with any of the artists represented by the Woodcut Society???? Some twenty-seven artists from four foreign countries. This is one thread.

Together, these threads hold my interest.

I am a teacher who helps students master math and reading. I am a painter of acrylics. I once did pen-and-ink illustrations for my high school yearbook. I have done editorial cartoons, murals, some self-publishing, and enjoy promoting the art of my friends. How did a no-name grain broker further the print scene so well??? I belong to some art clubs. Did Geary enjoy the company of other artists also???? Could the art left behind by some dead guy find renewed respect today????

As this blog proceeds forward, I wanted to frame it for you, my reader. Please share any links you find relevant to my quest.