Fritz Eichenberg
'The Aquarium' — WPA Era 1930s Graphic Modernism
1933

Name: 'The Aquarium' — WPA Era 1930s Graphic Modernism
Brand: Fritz Eichenberg
Price: 1600 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Fritz Eichenberg, 'The Aquarium', wood engraving, 1933, edition 200. Signed and titled in pencil. Initialed in the block, lower right. A superb, richly-inked impression, on pale yellow, wove paper; the full sheet with margins (2 1/8 to 3 1/8 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 6 1/4 x 4 5/8 inches (159 x 116 mm), sheet size 12 x 8 15/16 inches (305 x 227 mm). Collections: AD & A Museum (UC Santa Barbara), Guilford College Art Gallery, Princeton University Library, Yale University Art Gallery. ABOUT THE ARTIST Fritz Eichenberg (1901–1990) was a German-American illustrator and arts educator who worked primarily in wood engraving. His best-known works were concerned with religion, social justice, and nonviolence. Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Cologne, Germany, where the destruction of World War I helped to shape his anti-war sentiments. He worked as a printer's apprentice and studied at the Municipal School of Applied Arts in Cologne and the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig, where he studied under Hugo Steiner-Prag. In 1923 he moved to Berlin to begin his career as an artist, producing illustrations for books and newspapers. In his newspaper and magazine work, Eichenberg was politically outspoken and sometimes wrote and illustrated his reporting. In 1933, the rise of Adolf Hitler drove Eichenberg, who was a public critic of the Nazis, to emigrate with his wife and children to the United States. He settled in New York City, where he lived most of his life. He worked in the WPA Federal Arts Project and was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists. In his prolific career as a book illustrator, Eichenberg portrayed many forms of literature but specialized in works with elements of extreme spiritual and emotional conflict, fantasy, or social satire. Over his long career, Eichenberg was commissioned to illustrate more than 100 classics by publishers in the United States and abroad, including works by renowned authors Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Poe, Swift, and Grimmelshausen. He also wrote and illustrated books of folklore and children's stories. Eichenberg was a long-time contributor to the progressive magazine The Nation, his illustrations appearing between 1930 and 1980. Eichenberg’s work has been featured by such esteemed publishers as The Heritage Club, Random House, Book of the Month Club, The Limited Editions Club, Kingsport Press, Aquarius Press, and Doubleday. Raised in a non-religious family, Eichenberg had been attracted to Taoism as a child. Following his wife's unexpected death in 1937, he turned briefly to Zen Buddhist meditation, then joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1940. Though he remained a Quaker until his death, Eichenberg was also associated with Catholic charity work through his friendship with Dorothy Day—whom he met at a Quaker conference on religion and publishing in 1949—and frequently contributed illustrations to Day's newspaper ‘Catholic Worker’. In 1947, Eichenberg was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1949. In 1956, he became Chairman of the Department of Graphic Arts and founded the Pratt Graphic Arts Center in Manhattan. Ten years later, he served as Chairman of the Art Department at the University of Rhode Island. Eichenberg also served as the head of the art department at the University of Rhode Island and designed the printmaking studios there.

Creator:

Fritz Eichenberg (1901 - 1990, American, German)

Creation Year:

1933

Dimensions:

Height: 6.25 in (15.88 cm)Width: 4.63 in (11.77 cm)

Medium:

Woodcut

Movement & Style:

American Modern

Period:

1930-1939