Ward, Lynd Kendall (1905-1985), was an American artist. His reputation as a wood engraver was established with the publication of six novels in woodcut. They were the first such novels without text to be published in the United States. The novels are Gods’ Man (1929), Madman’s Drum (1930), Wild Pilgrimage (1932), Prelude to a Million Years (1933), Song Without Words (1936), and Vertigo (1937). All six novels were published in two volumes in 2010 by the Library of America.
Ward’s works also appear in water color, oil, and lithography. He wrote and illustrated The Biggest Bear (1952), a children’s book that received the Caldecott Medal in 1953. Ward and his wife, May McNeer, received the 1975 Regina Medal. Ward was born on June 26, 1905, in Chicago. He graduated from Columbia University in 1926. Ward died on June 28, 1985.
