Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works – Lawrence Kreisman
Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works by Lawrence Kreisman / ISBN 9780764961854 / Discounted copies but in excellent condition (some dents from shipping) / 112-page hardcover published by Pomegranate
***
The distinctive typography and elegant compositions designed by William Joseph “Dard” Hunter (American, 1883–1966) have become icons of the American Arts and Crafts style and have established him as one of America’s most influential graphic artists of the twentieth century. At age 21, Hunter talked his way into a summer job at the famed Roycroft arts community in East Aurora, New York, and ended up staying….After marrying in 1908, Hunter and his wife enjoyed an extended visit to Vienna, where he immersed himself in the creative output of Austrian and German Secession artists, and the products of the Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstatte). In a letter home, Hunter wrote, “I think it’s up to me to do from the U.S. what these fellows have done from [Vienna].”
Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works features more than 80 of his designs for book covers and title pages, booklets, bookplates, brochures, letterheads, and stained glass windows. Accompanied by historical photographs and examples from Hunter’s design contemporaries, author Lawrence Kreisman’s illuminating text establishes Hunter as a unique voice that emerged from a multitude of extraordinary influences in an incomparable era of flourishing artistic achievement.
