Lynd Ward's 1929 book, God's Man, came out at the wrong time and place.
At a time when full color reproductions on glossy pages in books and magazines were new and wildly popular, God's Man was made exclusively of black and white woodcuts, a medium that predated Durer in the 15th century.
In a decade when the country was celebrating prosperity and citizens were wallowing in new luxuries and promiscuity, God's Man was an unwelcome admonition about selling your soul for material gain and the pleasures of the flesh.
Lynd Ward made his powerful book, consisting of 139 woodcuts-- no words-- when he was 23. He had just returned from training at the State Academy for Graphic Arts in Leipzig Germany. There, he developed an appreciation for German expressionist graphics and he brought that aesthetic back to the US in this remarkable book.
Shortly after Ward's book was published, the stock market crashed, hurtling the world into the Great Depression. This caused many people to reflect back on the excesses of the "roaring twenties" with a different perspective.
Whatever the reason, Ward's book became famous. It made his reputation as an illustrator and it encouraged successive generations of artists to experiment in similar ways. It was reprinted several times, although the recent paperback reproductions have none of the charm of the original book which was beautifully printed on thick paper.
Living in an era of digital art and AI, we may conclude that it's not the right time or place for certain kinds of artistic efforts. But Lynd Ward wasn't afraid to try.
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