33 Facts About Lynd Ward

Lynd Kendall Ward was an American artist and novelist, known for his series of wordless novels using wood engraving, and his illustrations for juvenile and adult books.

Lynd Ward's father, Harry F Ward, was born in Chiswick, England, in 1873; the elder Ward was a Methodist who moved to the United States in 1891 after reading the progressive Social Aspects of Christianity by Richard T Ely.

Lynd Ward named his son after the rural town of Lyndhurst, located in the south coastal county of Hampshire, where he had lived for two years as a teenager prior to his emigration.

Lynd Ward's mother, Harriet May "Daisy" Kendall Lynd Ward, was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1873.

Lynd Ward partly recovered, and continued to suffer from symptoms of the disease throughout his childhood, as well as from inner ear and mastoid infections.

Lynd Ward was early drawn to art and decided to become an artist when his first-grade teacher told him that "Lynd Ward" spelled backward is "draw".

The family moved to Englewood, New Jersey, and Lynd Ward entered Englewood High School, where he became art editor of the school newspaper and yearbook, and learned linoleum-block printing.

Lynd Ward studied fine arts at Columbia Teachers College in New York.

Lynd Ward edited the Jester of Columbia, to which he contributed arts and crafts how-to articles.

Lynd Ward's roommate arranged a blind date for Ward and May Yonge McNeer in 1923; May had been the first female undergraduate at the University of Georgia in her freshman year.

Lynd Ward learned etching from Alois Kolb, lithography from Georg Alexander Mathey, and wood engraving from Hans Alexander "Theodore" Mueller; Ward was particularly influenced by Mueller.

Lynd Ward returned to New York in September 1927 and met a number of editors who showed interest in his portfolio.

In 1929, Lynd Ward was inspired to create a woodcut novel of his own.

Lynd Ward published five more such works: Madman's Drum, Wild Pilgrimage, Prelude to a Million Years, Song Without Words, and Vertigo.

Lynd Ward illustrated over a hundred children's books, several of which were collaborations with his wife, May During the 1930s, Ward became well known for the political themes of his graphic work, which often addressed class and labor issues.

In 1939, Lynd Ward became Supervisor of the Graphic Arts Division of the New York Chapter of the Federal Arts Project.

Lynd Ward managed 300 artists who made 5,000 prints a year which were distributed for display to libraries, museums, post offices and schools.

Lynd Ward was a member of the Society of Illustrators, a member and President of the Society of American Graphic Artists, and the National Academy of Design.

Lynd Ward lived with his wife in a home in Cresskill, New Jersey to which they added a studio for their work.

Lynd Ward retired to his home in Reston, Virginia, in 1979.

Lynd Ward died on June 28,1985 of Alzheimer's Disease, two days after his 80th birthday.

Lynd Ward won a number of awards, including a Library of Congress Award for wood engraving, the Caldecott Medal for The Biggest Bear in 1953, and a Rutgers University award for Distinguished Contribution to Children's Literature.

Lynd Ward illustrated two Newbery Medal books and six runners-up.

In 2011, Lynd Ward was listed as a Judges' Choice for The Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Lynd Ward is known for his wordless novels told entirely through dramatic wood engravings.

Lynd Ward, in employing the concept of the wordless pictorial narrative, acknowledged as his predecessors the European artists Frans Masereel and Otto Nuckel.

Lynd Ward produced six wood engraving novels over the next eight years, including:.

In 1930 and 1931, Lynd Ward created a series of striking wood-engraved illustrations for Alec Waugh's pair of travel books, Hot Countries and Most Women, and in the following year a number of line-cut chapter headings and a provocative dust-jacket image that embodied the homoerotic themes of Myron Brinig's satirical novel, The Flutter of an Eyelid.

In 1942, Lynd Ward illustrated the children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, with text by Hildegarde Swift.

Lynd Ward produced a wordless story for children, The Silver Pony, which is told entirely in black, white and gray painted illustrations.

Lynd Ward's work included an awareness of the racial injustice in the United States.

Lynd Ward's work had an important influence on the work of later graphic artists such as Art Spiegelman, George Walker, Clifford Harper, Eric Drooker, Jarrett Heckbert, Steven McCabe and Megan Speers.

Lynd Ward's works have been praised by R Crumb, filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, and Alan Moore.