Five Decades of the Burin: The Wood Engravings of John DePol

Born in 1913, John DePol is among those classic, self-taught graphic artists (like J.J.Lankes and Rockwell Kent) who worked in a variety of media, but whose main contribution was to the Weld of wood engraving. Although he has illustrated countless books & magazines, and been a friend to most letterpress printers and private presses of the latter half of the last century (Robert Jones s Glad Hand Press, Arthur Rushmore s Golden Hind Press, Neil Shaver s Yellow Barn Press, New York s Typophiles & John Anderson s Pickering Press, among others), his work remains little known, his contributions unheralded. In anticipation of a celebration of his life and work at the University of Delaware, we are presenting more than 100 of his best engravings from five decades with an extensive text examining his place in American graphic art.