SCHANILEC, Gaylord, b.1955 ~ Pelecanus Erythrorhyncos.
Original large four colour wood engraving printed by the artist. Edition of 250 signed,dated, titled and numbered in pencil by the artist. Image size 43 x 25 cm (10 x 17 ins), paper size 41 x 50 cm.
Gaylord Schanilec is an American wood engraver, printer, designer and illustrator, and is widely renowned as one of the very best wood engravers in the world.
Schanilec has set the standard for contemporary artist's books over the last 30 years. His highly collected and unique fine press books explore his interests and experiences as well as his hometown landscape and community. From farming culture and the rivers of the Mississippi to an exhaustive inventory of the 24 species of trees surrounding his home and studio in Stockholm, Wisconsin, Schanilec's wood engravings illustrate local landscapes, historical anecdotes and natural science investigations. He has also explored subjects far from home, including two books about New York City.
This astonishing 4 colour wood engraving of pelicans on the Mississippi is one of his most famous images, made for Schanilec’s book Lac des Pleurs, printed and published in only 100 copies by the artist under his imprint Midnight Paper Sales: a real magnum opus and a tribute in engraving and words to Lake Pepin by a modern day natural philosopher. In his boat Schanilec undertook a seven year odyssey studying the 22-mile length of the upper Mississippi River known as Lake Pepin where the Mississippi widens between Saint Paul, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin. This, the widest naturally occurring part of the river, was dubbed the “Lake of Tears” by Louis Hennepin in 1680, inspired by the tears of Indian men whose desire to kill the Frenchman was frustrated by their chief.