John DePol

MCST402September 15, 2010Maureen Cech and Jaime Margalotti

John DePolUsing photographs (objects) to tell the story of John DePol, an artist best known for his wood engravings, and some of the objects in his collection by depicting him with the objects and showing how the objects depict his life. His artwork is very much tied to place, projects that were born out of collaborations with other artists and printers. DePol was very much interested in the physicality of printinghe learned by doing and taught others through demonstration. As youll see, handpress printing is a very substantial and tactile kind of activity. 1

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 2John DePol was born in 1913 in Greenwich Village in New York City. As a young man DePol spent much of his free time exploring the West Village sketching the city, which provided subjects for later etchings and wood engravings. Its important to note the wealth of information in the collection provided by depol, in the form of captions like this, which really help to set the scene of a photo to detailed descriptions of and reflections upon his life and work.2

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 2DePols first venture into printmaking began in April 1935 when he printed his first etching with a homemade press in the basement workshop of a neighbor. DePol enrolled in an evening class in etching and lithography at the Art Students League in 1938

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Series VI, Box 60, Folder 74

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 7Working on a lithographic of a glen in ireland hed seen5

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 7DePol served in the Air Force during World War II and was stationed in Ireland. While there he participated in a lithography class in the art department of the School of Technology in Belfast. He often sketched scenes from the base and around Ireland, which again served as the basis for etchings and engravings. Again this is a lengthy reflection written by depol on his time served in ireland at the aeroclub.

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Series VI, Box 60, Folder 12DePol moved back to New York City after the war and in 1947 turned from etching to wood engraving, which he taught himself. In 1950 he approached a press called Devin-Adair Company to illustrate a book for them. His first illustrated book Two Lovely Beasts and Other Stories by Liam OFlaherty was published a year later. 7

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 12This series of photos shows some steps in the process of creating an engraving. This is for the block titled Sunday in limerick taken from a sketch depol made while stationed in ireland. Here hes inking the block.8

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 12Taking an initial rubbing9

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 12Then taking a proof10

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 14In 1949 DePol went to work for printer Lewis White and it was there he learned the art of printing. He was able to create wood engravings for publications for The Typophiles and through this work he developed friendships and working relationships with printers like John Fass, john anderson, 11

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 24and other artists like fellow engraver Bernard Brussel-Smith. 12

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 16Also through lew white depol became the illustrator for the first ben franklin keepsakes, the first of which was designed by white in 1953. here is depol engraving one of the later blocks for the series of keepsakes called thirty.13

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 16After the Lewis White company was sold in 1953, DePol freelanced until he was hired by the Security-Colombian Banknote Co. (later US Banknote Corp and Pandick Press). He retired in 1978and continued to be as productive as ever. This is depol with a goudy-albion press14

Series VI, Box 60, Folder 16This is DePols deskmade from a packing create taken from l.f. white. The back of the photo also reads note the glass of scotch. DePols career is marked by professional and personal collaborations with individuals, private presses and institutions, creating blocks for everything from book illustrations to keepsakes to pressmarks. He was both a creative and commercial artists honored by his colleagues for his extraordinary talent. Hes been the subject of several exhibits including one here at the University of Delaware library. Collections of his work are housed in museums and other institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the NYPL, the LOC, and the Bodleian.

15Some Helpful ResourcesJohn DePols catalogue raisonne (on reserve)DePol papers finding aidhttp://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/depol/index.htm Rutgers University DePol exhibit linkshttp://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/depol/depol_1.shtmlJohn Anderson papershttp://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/findaids/andersn.htm Yellow Barn Press collection (ask for paper finding aid)UDel exhibit on Depolhttp://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/depol/index.htm

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