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J.J. Lankes (1884-1960): Woodcuts Of Rural America, University Of Richmond Museums

Exhibition Brochures

J.J. Lankes (1884-1960): Woodcuts of Rural America

1994

Marsh Art Gallery, University of Richmond Museums

Introduction

In 1917, while working at the Newton Arms Company factory in Buffalo, New York, Julius John (J. J.) Lankes created his first woodcut. His only implements were a graver, used to score rifle stocks, and a block of apple wood he had cut from a fallen tree. The experiment proved a turning point in the life of the thirty-one-year-old laborer, draftsman, and erstwhile art student. Rapidly mastering the difficult white on black woodcutting technique, he went on to produce some 1,300 designs over the …