Thursday, March 21, 2024

the buildroman of lynn ward (illustrations without words)

Bildroman (the visual novel) is an expressionist narrative genre in which sequences of images without captions are used to tell stories. the atmosphere is inspired by medieval cuts.

I find ward's work to have an overpowering feeling (which fits the expressionist program).

                                    frans masereel 25 images de la passion d' un homme, 1918

the awkward appearance of this medium helped express fear and frustration about social injustice.

                                                        cabinet des dr. caligari, 1920

Lynd Ward brought the genre to the US in 1929 when he produced Gods' man, which inspired other American visual novels and a 1930 parody by cartoonist Milt Gross called He Done Her Wrong

                                                                lynn ward, shine of dreams

 

                                                                                            lynn ward, god's man

                                                        lynn ward, god's man (block and print) 

 

click here for an article on ward on vulture. 

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