Laurence Hyde
From the 1920s until the 1940s, Laurence Hyde made wood engravings for illustrated books in which stories are told entirely in pictures. In stark black and white, Hyde's precise, stylized block prints are simple, elegant, and powerful. Discouraged by poor sales and critical and public indifference, he eventually abandoned printmaking.
Hyde's art was rediscovered in the early 1980s when Glenbow curator Patricia Ainslie was researching her 1984 seminal exhibition/book, Images of the Land. Struck by the extraordinarily high quality of his prints, she purchased a large number for Glenbow and organized an important retrospective exhibition with an accompanying catalogue. This led to a substantial donation by the artist. With 162 works, Glenbow Museum has the largest Hyde collection in Canada, which includes the drawings, studies, books, and wood engravings.
Laurence Hyde
Canadian (1914-1987)
Untitled (Act 3, scene 1 from Macbeth), 1937
wood engraving on paper
Glenbow Museum Collection; Gift of Mr. Laurence Hyde, 1984
984.159.3
Laurence Hyde
Canadian (1914-1987)
Untitled (Ominous Clouds over Boats at Sea from Discovery), 1934-38
wood engraving on paper
Glenbow Museum Collection; Purchased with funds from the Glenbow Museum Acquisitions Society, 1986
986.1.1.1
Inspired by the Norse sagas, the Discovery series was based on the theory that the Vikings and not Columbus had discovered North America.
Laurence Hyde
Canadian (1914 - 1987)
Untitled (In the Forest from Southern Cross), 1948-1951
wood engraving on Japanese paper
Glenbow Museum Collection
984.37.9.64
Southern Cross: A Novel of the South Seas (1951) Hyde's only published illustrated book, was an original story about the atomic bomb tests by the Americans in the South Pacific during the Second World War.