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.



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.





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.



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



"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."



"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."



"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."