Charles Turzak (1899-1986)

Turzak, an Illinois native, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a member of the honorary art fraternity Delta Phi Delta and taught printmaking at the Academy of Fine Arts. From the 1920s on the artist created prints and illustrated books, often with original woodcuts or wood engravings, while earning a living as a commercial artist. He was a watercolorist and worked as a muralist during the WPA era. His American Regionalist woodcuts from the 1930s and '40s are highly sought after. He died in Florida.

Four of the woodcuts shown here originally appeared in his 1933 book Abraham Lincoln: Biography in Woodcuts. We believe our images may be from a later book, Scholastic Publishing's True Stories About Abraham Lincoln, which appeared in the early 1970s. Turzak sold the reproduction rights to Scholastic.

 

Untitled

Signed l.r., pencil
Wood engraving
6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (image)
9 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches (paper)

SOLD