9781554072705

"If you care about graphic novels, you need this book." - New York Times best-selling author Neil GaimanGraphic Witness features rare wordless novels by four great 20th-century woodcut artists European and North American. The stories they tell reflect the political and social issues of their times as well as the broader issues that are still relevant today.Frans Masereel (1899-1972) was born in Belgium and is considered the father of the wordless graphic novel. Graphic Witness includes the first reprint of his classic work, The Passion of a Man, since its 1918 publication in Munich. American Lynd Ward (1905-85), author of the provocative Wild Pilgrimage, is considered among the most important of wordless novelists. Giacomo Patri (1898-1978) was born in Italy and lived in the United States. His White Collar featured an introduction by Rockwell Kent and was used a promotional piece by the labor movement. Southern Cross by Canadian Laurence Hyde (1914-87) was controversial for its criticism of U.S. H-bomb testing in the South Pacific.An introduction by George A. Walker places each wordless novel in its context and examines the influence of these works on contemporary culture, including film, comic books and contemporary graphic novels.Graphic Witness will appeal to readers interested in social issues, printmaking, art history and contemporary culture.

George A. Walker is an award-winning wood engraver, book artist and illustrator. He is an associate professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and the author of The Woodcut Artist's Handbook.

Preface
Introduction
The Passion of a Man
Wild Pilgrimage
White Collar
Southern Cross
Afterword Seth
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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PrefaceImagine the advantage of writing a book that can be read anywhere in the world without translation. Free of the confines of words, books written in the universal language of pictures are understandable anywhere in the global village. A drawing of a stick figure needs no translation. Pictorial narratives are not new; the earliest known cave paintings told tales of hunting, the Egyptians used sequential images and all written languages evolved from pictures, our universal system of expression and communication.My fascination with the wordless novel began in the 1980s, after attending an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario featuring the work of Frans Masereel, who is regarded as the first master of the wordless novel. After the exhibition I began an obsessive pursuit to find books illustrated with woodcuts, wood engravings and linocuts, and to learn everything I could about fine art printmaking and the art of wood engraving.Living in a rough part of the city, being desperately poor and struggling to balance college expenses with low-paying part-time work, I often felt like a character in a Masereel novel. The building that I lived in housed a vegetable soup of characters, ranging from prostitutes to con men. I once had to disarm a kid, not much older than 10, who pulled a knife on me and demanded my bike. At the time words didn't seem able to communicate my feelings -- pictures seemed more poignant and accessible to illustrate this world. It was exhilarating to plaster my woodcuts in the neighborhood, criticizing the landlord and poking fun at the politics and injustices of the day, and today I can identify with Masereel's words: "Since the time of my youth, I have protested against the society in which I am living. The social injustice seemed odious to me, and I believe that this early rebellion became the source of many of my works."Wordless novels have often treated controversial themes and been associated with protest movements. The early part of the 20th century saw the technological advances of the industrial revolution, yet life was becoming increasingly difficult for the average worker. A literate and socially conscious middle class was growing, with expectations of a better life for everyone. These expectations were interrupted by a war, an economic depression, another war, the cold war and the looming threat of nuclear annihilation.The works in this book, products of these difficult times, were created in Europe, the United States and Canada between 1918 and 1951. The political and social issues they address are specific to their times, but the broader issues are, sadly, still relevant to our contemporary eyes.Masereel created his first wordless novel, The Passion of a Man, in 1918, using only 25 woodcuts. That little book influenced three generations of artists, writers, musicians, animators and filmmakers, yet his work has remained largely unknown in North America. Only now, at the beginning of the 21st century, is Masereel being rediscovered as one of the most important graphic artists of the 20th century and the grandfather of the modern graphic novel.This book includes the work of four of the greatest wordless novelists who used relief-printmaking techniques: Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, Giacomo Patri and Laurence Hyde. These men were artistic and literary masters of the form.There are, of course, other artists of this period who also expressed their ideas in wordless books. The horrors of war and social injustice seem particularly fit subjects for this art. In 1957, Si Lewen, who was influenced by Frans Masereel and George Grosz, created an antiwar visual narrative, The Parade, a story in 55 drawings that showed the ugly realities of battle and death that lay behind the pomp and ceremony of milita

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Graphic Witness

Graphic Witness

1554072700

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