Ward, Lynd, 1905-1985

Printmaker, illustrator, writer. Died 1985.

American artist and author/illustrator of children's books; Caldecott Award winner, 1953 and Caldecott Honor, 1950.

American artist and author/illustrator of children's book.

American artist and author/illustrator of children's books.

Illustrator; best known for his wood engravings and woodcuts.

Lynd Kendall Ward, wood engraver, illustrator, and children's book author, was born in Chicago in 1905. He graduated from high school in Englewood, New Jersey, and attended Teacher's College at Columbia University where he majored in fine arts. At Columbia, he met May McNeer and married her in June 1926. They traveled to Europe on their honeymoon and arrived in Leipzig, Germany where Lynd studied wood engraving at the Academy of Graphic Arts under Hans Alexander Mueller. He returned to the United States and embarked upon a career in illustration. In 1929, he published his first wordless novel, Gods' Man, which was the first work of its kind published in the United States. Over the next decade, he printed several more novels featuring his wood engravings. All of them critiqued the greed of the capitalist system and the economic disaster it had imparted upon the world. In 1929, Lynd also illustrated his first children's book, Prince Bantam, which was written by his wife. The outstanding illustrations created by Ward elevated the job of illustration into an art form. During the later years of the Great Depression, Ward served as the Director of the graphic arts division of the Federal Art Project in New York City, but illustration became his primary profession. He illustrated over 100 books during his lifetime, including Newbery Medal winners Johnny Tremain and The Cat who went to heaven. Lynd Ward's greatest success came in 1952 when he won the Caldecott Medal for the book he wrote and illustrated, The Biggest bear. Over his career, Lynd won the Zella de Milhau prize, the Library of Congress award for wood engraving, and the silver medallion from University of Southern Mississippi. Ward was respected by his peers. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators and served as President of the Society of American Graphic Design from 1953-1959. Lynd Ward died in 1985 from Alzheimer's disease two days after his 80th birthday.

Lynd Ward was an artist represented at the Weyhe Gallery. He was also associated with the American Artists' Congress and the Society of American Graphic Artists.

American children's author/illustrator, born in Chicago, Illinois in 1905. This award-winning artist established his reputation as a wood engraver, also working in watercolor, oil lithography, and mezzotint.

Lynd Kendall Ward, wood engraver, illustrator, and children's book author, was born in Chicago in 1905. He graduated from high school in Englewood, New Jersey, and attended Teacher's College at Columbia University where he majored in fine arts. At Columbia, he met May McNeer and married her in June 1926. They traveled to Europe on their honeymoon and arrived in Leipzig, Germany where Lynd studied wood engraving at the Academy of Graphic Arts under Hans Alexander Mueller. He returned to the United States and embarked upon a career in illustration. In 1929, he published his first wordless novel, Gods' Man, which was the first work of its kind published in the United States. Over the next decade, he printed several more novels featuring his wood engravings. All of them critiqued the greed of the capitalist system and the economic disaster it had imparted upon the world. In 1929, Lynd also illustrated his first children's book, Prince Bantam, which was written by his wife. The outstanding illustrations created by Ward elevated the job of illustration into an art form. During the later years of the Great Depression, Ward served as the Director of the graphic arts division of the Federal Art Project in New York City, but illustration became his primary profession. He illustrated over 100 books during his lifetime, including Newbery Medal winners Johnny Tremain and The Cat who went to Heaven . Lynd Ward's greatest success came in 1952 when he won the Caldecott Medal for the book he wrote and illustrated, The Biggest Bear . Over his career, Lynd won the Zella de Milhau prize, the Library of Congress award for wood engraving, and the silver medallion from University of Southern Mississippi. Ward was respected by his peers. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators and served as President of the Society of American Graphic Design from 1953-1959. Lynd Ward died in 1985 from Alzheimer's disease two days after his 80th birthday

Lynd Kendall Ward was born June 26, 1905, in Chicago, Illinois. He was educated at Teacher's College, Columbia University in New York and received his B.S. in 1926, and later studied art in Leipzig, Germany. He married May Yonge McNeer, the children's author and his frequent collaborator, and had two children. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Lynd Ward was well-known as a graphic artist and illustrator, illustrating his own works and others for adults and children. Lynd Ward began illustrating children's books in the 1920s. He was awarded a Caldecott Honor for America's Ethan Allen in 1950, and in 1953 won the Caldecott for The Biggest Bear, a story that drew on his love of nature and the outdoors and summers spent as a child in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Ward also illustrated the Newbery Award winner The Cat Who Went to Heaven, originally published in 1930, and did additional illustrations for subsequent editions, as well as illustrating other Newbery award and honor books, including Johnny Tremain . Lynd Ward was known for his woodcuts, but he worked in a variety of media, including ink, tempera, and watercolor. Lynd Ward died June 28, 1985, in Reston, Virginia.

Printmaker, illustrator, writer. Died 1985.

Illustrated over 100 books. President, Society of American Graphic Artists, 1953-1959.

Lynd Ward: Printmaker, illustrator, writer. Died 1985. May McNeer: Children's book author. Died 1994.

Born Chicago, Lynd Kendall Ward majored in Fine Arts at the Teachers College, Columbia University, where he illustrated school publications until his graduation in 1926. In the same year he married May McNeer of Tampa, Florida. They collaborated on many books written by McNeer and illustrated by Ward. Between 1926 and 1927, Ward studied at the National Academy for Graphic Arts in Leipzig, Germany, working with Alois Kolb, George Mathey, and Hans A. Mueller. Ward was a prolific graphic artist, illustrating over one hundred books including GODS' MAN and other woodcut novels produced between 1929 and 1937.