The Georgia Museum of Art is currently showing a retrospective exhibition of the prints of the American artist Armin Landeck, with related drawings, paintings and illustrated books. The exhibition will close Feb. 8.
Born in Wisconsin, Landeck (1905-84) studied at the University of Michigan and Columbia University. During his student days in New York, he took classes at the Arts Students League and explored the city’s museums and galleries. During this time he began experimenting with printmaking, producing his first print, The Armenian. Thus began a lengthy artistic career. Nearly 100 prints covering the span of his career are included in this exhibition. Best known for his haunting views of Manhattan (see the print reproduced above) and his architectural interiors, Landeck also recorded still-life arrangements and Connecticut landscapes.
In the 1930s Landeck joined forces with Martin Lewis to open the School of Printmakers in George Miller’s 14th Street Studio in New York. Together the artists offered classes on lithography, etching, drypoint, mezzotint and wood engraving. The Depression forced them to close the school after only a year, but Landeck emerged as a towering force in New York artistic circles as he experimented with different media, such as copper engraving. A member of the Society of American Etchers (known today as the Society of American Graphic Artists), he was also elected to the prestigious National Academy of Design, the Institute of the American Academy, and the Institute of Arts and Letters. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he also won several other acclaimed awards.
