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.)

K.C.S.O.A.

Art matron Gertrude Woolf Lighton refurbished a property on the West Bluffs to provide a permanent headquarters for the Kansas City Society of Artists. Her involvement with the arts went all the way back to the 1896 Paint Club, under George Van Millet.  Among others, two collegues, Alfred Houghton Clark

and author Floy Campbell, were given exhibits. Through her connections with John H. Bender of the Alden Galleries, she was able to add wood block artist Richardson Rome, to the art colony's roster. Double click on image to enlarge.

  Through her patronage of the Art Institute she made it possible for women artists to work out of inexpensive studios and exhibit at 1718 Holly Street as well.

Fred Geary found himself drawn into this community. "It was fourteen years before much thought could be given to advancement in other directions. Yet being thirty-five years old would in no way deter him from finer accomplishment. Definite impulses of the early 1930s beckoned to a new horizon in artistic goals and associations. He (Geary) was treasurer of The Kansas City Society of Artists, about 1933, and showed genuine interest in the organizations's activities."  Ernest H. Deines, 1946

(G.W. Lighton history courtesy of J D Mooney of Kansas City, MO, interviewed September 11, 2010. Photo of G.W. Lighton and history courtesy Linda Lighton of Kansas City, MO, interviewed October 3, 2010. Kansas City, Missouri: its history and its people 1808-1908 by Carrie Westlake Whitney, page 601, Google Books, accessed October 17, 2010. Fred Geary, Missouri Wood Engraver by E.H. Deines, 1946, unpublished, page three, courtesy of Ms. Jane Metz and the Carrollton Public Library, Carrollton, MO, accessed January 10, 2010. Kansas City's Historic Hyde Park, 4012 Holmes Street, accessed December 16, 2010. Private Library Holding, http://privatelibraryholdings.com/id84.html, accessed November 19, 2010. Minnesota Prints And Printmakers, 1900-1945 by Robert Crump, Minnesota Historical Society, accessed November 18, 2010. The Literary World: A Monthly Review Of Current Literature, Volume 30 by Samuel R. Crocker, Edward Abbott, Madeline Vaughan Abbott Bushnell ("Mrs. C.E. Bushnell,") Nicholas Paine Gilman, Bliss Carman, Herbert Copeland, page 410, accessed December 15, 2010)

self taught

"At the age of 35 Fred Geary taught himself the art of xylography without guidance from outside of one or two books at first." (Dienes, 1946) Others did the same thing. Like Paul Landacre, Lionel Lindsay, as well as Thomas W. Nason, who were later commissioned by the Woodcut Society to do prints.
Nason wrote something about his learning curve. I would like to think that Fred Geary had a similiar experience. With that, here is what Thomas Nason of New England wrote: "I am always perplexed by the question, so often asked, as to how I happened to take up wood-engraving. It is difficult to give a satisfying answer. In the early twenties, I became aware of an increasing interest in wood-engravings, based mainly on seeing them used as book decorations
and magazine illustrations. These
prints, done for the most part in a bold and effective manner with rich blacks and sparkling whites, appealed to me very strongly. I seemed to see great possibilities in the medium for personal art expression. In 1922, I made my first wood-engraving, which was more of a laboratory experiment than anything else.

The decision was soon reached that I would never find it particularly thrilling to cut away the wood around the lines on the block simply to reproduce my drawing. But I was exceedingly interested in engraving extemporaneously directly on the block with a smooth-cutting engraver's tool which would go in any direction with equal freedom and which would cut a fine line or a broad one with much the same movement. I found this kind of engraving on wood a creative process within itself. As I became familiar with the use of the burin on boxwood and perfected my knowledge of printing from engraved blocks, the fascination of the process really got hold of me.


But my progress was slow. I produced a few blocks each year but continued to engrave them purely as a avocation; constantly experimenting, and striving to improve both my technique and composition...I do not know exactly how many have succeeded it but I do know that each one has presented an individual problem and that the final result is always a matter of conjecture. The first trial proof always brings a moment of keen anticipation and excitement --and often brings disappointment." Thomas W. Nason

(courtesy of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, accessed Sunday, March 21, 2010)
(To the left are close up shots of a 5 by 8 inch House print by Fred Geary)
House by Fred Geary. Image size 4 by 5 3/4 inches. Fred Geary Print Collection, Carrollton Public Library, 1 North Folger Street, Carrollton, Missouri, United States

For more on Nason, click HERE

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.

Introducing artists

H. A. Fowler followed in the steps of his predecessor Sheldon Cheney. Surely, he also enjoyed mutual friendships with the artists he later commissioned in his Woodcut Society. A window into that relationship can be seen in a November 1907 post entitled "A Visit to Mr. Spenceley's Summer Studio." In this entry, one of the Booklet's contributors (S.A.) travels to Boston, Massachusetts. The recorded experience introduced collectors nation-wide to the then-popular J. Winfred Spenceley.
"A three-mile ride over the hills from the railroad station brings one to the summer studio of Mr. J. W. Spenceley of Boston, who has etched and engraved many notable book-plates during the last dozen years. The cottage is on a hillside, just above the quiet New Hampshire village of Chocorua. In front, Mt. Chocorua's rugged peak, five miles away, rises from above the pine trees with quite a Japanese suggestion: while in the rear, a beautiful valley of rolling meadow land and pine forests, bounded by mountains on either side, stretches into the distance where the silvery expanse of Lake Ossipee is seen."
"Mr. Spenceley was somewhere in the meadow, I was informed; and as I chose to seek him, I found him sitting beneath an apple tree, making studies of a grape vine that climbed over a boulder near by. I explained my quest, and as together we walked back to the cottage, the view over the valley held my admiration. Mr. Spenceley, noticing the direction of my gaze, remarked: "Is it not beautiful? A scholar who has traveled widely in Greece, likens our valley to the Plain of Marathon; but it needs no historic value to heighten its charm."
"We passed through the spacious living-room, where hung water-colors, and prints from the book-plate work of some of the noted engravers, and continuing upstairs, reached the studio. A large dormer window, with a rare old Indian print hanging from the top and down either side, keeping off the sidelights, concentrated its rays on the work-table below. Here was my particular interest."
"What kind of book-plates do you best like to do?" I asked. Mr. Spenceley placed four copper plates before me, each different in design. "You see the variety, but each holds my interest. Perhaps I like landscape plates best, and grace and treatment of the sixth-century French designs appeal to me especially. However, to incorporate artistically the ideas of my clientele, I find it better to use various forms of design rather than to hold to any one style." I glanced again at the copper plates and noting the detail of the work, I involuntarily asked: "How many book-plates have you made, Mr. Spenceley?"
"About two hundred now, I believe," he replied. "Perhaps you would like to see some of my proofs," and upon my assurance that I would he handed me a portfolio, in which I found examples of his book-plate work. After a short while I left, carrying away with me a deep impression of the rare personality of this artist, who believes truly that "Blessed is the man who has found his work." It is small wonder one feels the exquisite harmony in his book-plates, for he is one of Nature's most earnest lovers, and only embodies in his work the happiest and most beautiful aspects of life. As I drove back to the station, I felt a sincere gratitude toward kindly Fortune who had allowed me this intimate contact with a man who portrays with such delicate feeling Nature's happiest moods." S. A.
(above excerpts taken from "The Book-Plate Booklet Volume 1 Number 3" edited by Sheldon Cheney Nov.1906 - Nov. 1907 / Catalog Number R 087 B724 v.1/ Missouri Valley Special Collections)

Comments by Karl Marxhausen: This entry typlifies the connection that collectors could share about a given artist. It was what Fowler would later work hard to bring to the collector. Something only shared by a privileged few. Think of the "limited" edition. The nature of a print is that there are x-number impressions of that particular image. And you, as the collector, were among the few who could enjoy that image at your leisure, because it was in your possession. Print societies were able to keep collectors in "the know" about the "print scene."

Print Clubs Were The Go-Between

"The link......between those who make prints and those who would buy them is rarely self-evident; that is, the average, middle-income art collector is not always in direct contact with the average, eager-to-sell etcher or lithographer. Enter the print club....."
I strongly recommend a piece on print clubs by Kelli Lucas entitled "Prints: Art for a Down Economy."