Roderick Mead's surrealist engravings

Ann Shafer

Last week I posted a few images of praying mantes in prints. Fascinating creatures. By the terribly scientific polling apparatus available to me—number of likes, natch—I decided to post more images by the person whose praying mantis print was most admired, Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Mead grew up in New Jersey and attended Yale University, graduating in 1925. Following art school, he moved to New York where he studied at the Art Students’ League under George Luks (and later with him privately) for several years. He also studied watercolor painting with George Pearse Ennis at the Grand Central School of Art.
 
In 1931, Mead moved to Majorca. Three years later he moved his studio to Paris and began studying printmaking at guess where? The experimental studio run by Stanley William Hayter known as Atelier 17. Actually, in 1931, the atelier was only a few years old and had yet to take up the name it would become known by. It wasn’t until 1933 that the studio moved to 17, rue Campagne Première, from which the 17 in its name derives. But you can be sure that Mead absorbed as much as he could there and as a result, the effect on his style is clear.

​At the Atelier on any given day one might be working at a table next to Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, Jean Hélion, or Wassily Kandinsky. Like most of the artists there, Mead experimented with abstraction and surrealism, and one finds shared ideas, forms, and styles among the prints made there. Like most everyone else, Mead and his wife left Paris in 1939 ahead of the start of World War II and by 1941 was living in Carlsbad, New Mexico. There he was able to devote himself to creating art full time; he continued to paint and make prints until his death in 1971.
 
For me, Mead would have been one in a long list of artists working with Hayter about whom I know not a great deal was it not for my friend Gregg Most, who grew up down the street from the Meads. Gregg and I worked together at the National Gallery in the 1990s, and he has researched and collected Mead for a long time. It is Gregg’s passion for Mead that caused me to pay closer attention.
 
I love Mead’s prints because they are carefully crafted, readable yet totally surreal, and have a high sense of crispness and design that really attracts me. See if you agree.
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
The Wrecked Ship, 1936
Engraving
Plate: 197 x 251 mm. (7 ¾ x 9 7/8 in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.1
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
Untitled (Matador and Bull), c. 1936
Engraving and softground etching with aquatint
Plate: 203 x 203 mm. (8 × 8 in.)
Dolan/Maxwell
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
Rope Figures, c. 1935–45
Engraving
Plate: 160 x 82 mm. (6 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄4 in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1976.99.5
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
St. Michael and the Dragon, 1939
Color wood engraving
Image: 232 x 203 mm. (9 1/8 x 8 in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.6
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
Creation of Eve, c. 1942
Engraving and softground etching
Plate: 200 x 199 mm. (7 7/8 x 7 13/16 in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1976.99.1
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
Trojan Horse, c. 1945–50s
Color engraving, aquatint, and softground etching
Plate: 235 x 298 mm. (9 ¼ x 11 ¾ in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.2
 
Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971)
Combat #1 (Incident), c. 1942–45
Engraving and softground etching
264 x 186 mm. (10 3/8 x 7 3/8 in.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.3
 
Roderick Mead, (American, 1900–1971)
Tauromachia I, 1946
Engraving and aquatint
Plate: 114 x 182 mm (4 ½ x 31/4 in.)
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation, California State Library loan, L543.1966

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). The Wrecked Ship,1936. Engraving and aquatint. Plate: 197 x 251 mm. (7 ¾ x 9 7/8 in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.1.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Untitled (Matador and Bull), c. 1936. Engraving and softground etching with aquatint. Plate: 203 x 203 mm. (8 × 8 in.). Dolan/Maxwell.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Rope Figures, c. 1935–45. Engraving. Plate: 160 x 82 mm. (6 1⁄2 x 3 1⁄4 in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1976.99.5.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). St. Michael and the Dragon, 1939. Color wood engraving. Image: 232 x 203 mm. (9 1/8 x 8 in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.6.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Creation of Eve, c. 1942. Engraving and softground etching. Plate: 200 x 199 mm. (7 7/8 x 7 13/16 in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1976.99.1.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Trojan Horse, c. 1945–50s. Color engraving, aquatint, and softground etching. Plate: 235 x 298 mm. (9 ¼ x 11 ¾ in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.2.

Roderick Mead (American, 1900–1971). Combat #1 (Incident), c. 1942–45. Engraving and softground etching. Plate: 264 x 186 mm. (10 3/8 x 7 3/8 in.). Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Roderick Mead, 1974.122.3.

Roderick Mead, (American, 1900–1971). Tauromachia I, 1946. Engraving and aquatint. Plate: 114 x 182 mm (4 ½ x 31/4 in.). Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation, California State Library loan, L543.1966.