Printmakers You Should Know: Roderick Mead

Last month, I introduced you to Stanley William Hayter, one of the most innovative intaglio printers of the 20^th century. Today, we’ll meet one of his students and colleagues, and a favorite artistic son of Carlsbad, NM: Roderick Mead (1900-1971).

Roderick Mead, Budding, n.d.intaglio on paper. Image courtesy of http://roswellmuseum.pastperfect-online.com/36727cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=DBB895C4-EA45-4DD7-8572-831252086340;type=101

 Originally from New Jersey, Mead began studying art at the Newark Academy, later going on to Yale University. After graduating in 1925, Mead went on to the Arts Student League in New York, where he studied under painter George Luks. During the late 1920s, he also studied at the Grand Central School of Art, focusing particularly on watercolor as taught by George Pearse Ennis. 

Mead spent most of the 1930s in Europe. In 1931, he moved to the island of Majorca, located off the coast of Spain. In 1934, he relocated to Paris. Here, he began studying printmaking at Atelier 17, led by none other than Hayter himself. As mentioned in last month’s post, Atelier 17 was one of the most avant-garde printmaking shops in Europe at the time. With its emphasis on automatic drawing and unconventional printing techniques, the spontaneity of the workshop attracted many notable Surrealist, and later Abstract Expressionist artists. Hayter’s aesthetic and printing processes would have a great impact on Mead’s work.

Roderick Mead, Trojan Horse, ca. 1940s-1950s, color engraving, aquatint, and soft ground etching on paper. Image courtesy of http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17255

With the onset of World War II, Mead returned to the United States. After living briefly in Maine, Florida, and New York, he ultimately settled in Carlsbad, New Mexico, in 1941, where his wife’s family was located. Mead would spend the rest of his life here, setting up his own printing shop so that he could continue making experimental prints. He also painted in both oil and watercolor.

Like his mentor Stanley William Hayter, Mead was a technical master of printmaking. He is especially renowned for his intaglio printing, but he was also skilled in relief printing.His lines are clean and confident, while his complex compositions reflect both careful planning and creativity. As an artist, Mead worked in a representational style that is often both Surrealist and highly abstract. During the 30s in particular, he made several highly detailed etching and engravings that exude a dream-like, sometimes ominous quality. 

Roderick Mead, The Wrecked Ship, 1936, engraving on paper. Image courtesy of http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17256

Roderick Mead, Rope Figures, ca. 1935-1945, engraving on paper. Image courtesy of http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17253

Throughout his career Mead created representational subjects, but he also maintained an interest in abstraction, particularly with dynamic negative space. You can see Mead's dynamic use of negative space in St. Michael and the Dragon:

Roderick Mead, St. Michael and the Dragon, 1939, color wood engraving on paper. Image courtesy of http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17254

Roderick Mead, Rockweed, Kelp, and Net, ca. 1950-1970, relief etching and aquatint on paper. Image courtesy of http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=17252

All in all, Carlsbad has very good reason to be proud of its artistic heritage. His works are among my favorites in the RMAC collection, and I've featured them in several exhibits here. Roderick Mead is definitely one of the great printmakers you should know.

Want to learn more? Here are some sites: