Paul Landacre

Known for his detailed wood engravings often of rolling hills, deserts, beaches, and dramatic fires and storms around Los Angeles, Paul Landacre was born into a family of scientists in 1893 in Columbus, Ohio. He was a track and field athlete aspiring for the Olympics and botany student at Ohio State University when he developed a streptococcus infection his sophomore year that left his left leg permanently stiffened. After an extended hospitalization and recuperation period during which he took some drawing classes, he moved to San Diego, California, where his father and step-mother had recently relocated, in the hope that the warmer climate would aid in his recovery. To help rebuild some strength following his illness, Landacre took long walks through nearby rural areas, usually with his sketchbook in hand. By 1918, he had found a job as a commercial illustrator in the advertising industry and through work he met Margaret McCreery, an advertising copy writer who he married in 1925 and provided support and assistance in the printing process. Landacre took a few drawing and art classes at the Otis Art Institute from 1923 to 1925. He also began to study and experiment with wood engraving on his own. He pulled nearly all of his wood engravings on a 19th century Washington Hand Press that he restored after finding it in an abandoned newspaper office. The early 1930s brought many opportunities to Landacre. In 1930, he meet Jeff Zeitlin and had his first solo exhibition of prints at Zeitlin's antiquarian bookshop and in 1931 his book California Hills and Other Wood Engravings was published and was recognized as on the "Fifty Books of the Year" for 1931 by AIGA, the first of 6 books illustrated by Landacre to receive that recognition. He supplemented his printing by working as book illustrator and teaching. He died shortly after his wife passed in 1963. Today, his work is collections including the National Gallery of Art, New York Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His hillside home in Los Angeles was declared a city historic-cultural landmark in 2006