John William Evans. American. Born 1855.
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Albrecht Dürer, Painter-Engraver. 1877. Wood engraving after the mural by Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), done in 1877. This was Abbey's first mural, and was painted for the President's Room of Harper Brothers, Franklin Square, New York. 4 1/8 x 7 31/16. Signed in pencil. A proof on tissue paper, affixed to a backing sheet at the four corners. $250.
Portrait of Johnson. 1935. Wood engraving after a sculpture by James E. Kelly. 7 1/2 x 6 1/2. Printed on tissue paper. Thomas Johnson (1844 - 1904) was a wood engraver and illustrator. Signed in pencil by Evans and in ink by Johnson. $175.
Abraham Lincoln. 1933. Wood engraving after a photograph by Bradley. 11 x 7 1/2 (sheet 18 x 13 7/8). A fine impression printed on cream wove paper. Signed and dated in the block; signed in pencil. A fine example of Evans' technical expertise. $250.
Napoleon. 1933. Wood engraving after a photograph by Bradley. 5 1/16 x 5 1/2 (sheet 11 1/4 x 8 7/8). A fine impression printed on white tissue tipped onto bristol board at the corners. Signed in pencil. A fine example of Evans' technical expertise. $250.
Little Dutch Girl. 1895. Wood engraving after Marcia Oakes Woodbury (1865-1913). 7 3/4 x 4 5/8. Signed and dated in pencil by Evans. $75.
An excellent new reference book is by William H. Brandt, Interpretive Wood-Engraving. The Story of the Society of American Wood-Engravers. Hardcover with dust jacket, 204 pages, $85. Publisher: Oak Knoll Press, Delaware. Phone: 800-996-2556.
Born in Brooklyn, Evans was a pupil of P.R.B. Pierson. He exhibited at the Chicago Exposition in 1893, the Paris Exposition in 1900, as well as in London, Berlin, Vienna, Munich and New York. He was awarded bronze medals at the Buffalo Exposition in 1901 and at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. He received a silver medal at the Panam Pacific International Exposition in 1915. He lived and worked in Brooklyn, New York. His work is in the New York Public Library, the Carnegie Institute, and in the Brooklyn Institute of Art and Science.
Evans was a disginguished wood engraver, who did both reproductive and original work. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wood engraving was the primary medium of reproduction in books and magazines. Wood engraving is a highly technical and demanding medium. Evans was one of the masters of the medium. He was a member of the Members of the Society of American Wood-Engravers with Victor Bernstrom, W. B. Closson, Timothy Cole, John P. Davis, Frank French, F. S. King,
Elbridge Kingsley, John Tinkey, Henry Wolf, F. H. Wellington, S. G.
Putnam and others.
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