Draft:Stefan Martin

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Stefan Martin (1936–1994), born in Elgin, Illinois, is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago (B.F.A.). He majored in painting, drawing and graphics.

He was an Engraver at the Sander Wood Engraving Company in Chicago, Illinois, 1954-1958¹. The late Ben Shahn (1896–1969), long-time friend, said Stefan was, "a full Master at a youthful age, Martin then converted his high craft to the service of his sensitive and poetic feelings. Grouped or single figures shape and reshape themselves in the penumbra of vague shadows in his work. Or aspects of nature emerge through a perfection of lines." Stefan once said of himself, "Art is best made from the edge of life".

Wood engraving is a print technique demanding extraordinary skill and patience. Martin used blocks of laminated boxwood, engraving the end-grain with tools called burins (gravers). The blocks were expensive to purchase because end-grain wood must be a section through the trunk or large bough of a tree. The block is then inked and printed on handmade Okawara Japanese rice paper on a turn-of-the-century hand press. Martin then modified certain areas by hand rubbing, giving each print a slightly different value and character. A very hard, tacky ink is used so the fine lines and dots are not filled in, thus achieving the crisp, clean image. Martin did his own printing on a press that was made in 1890². It has no motors. Wood engravings differ from woodcuts as the blocks are cut on the end-grain, not the plank (as in a woodcut). He demonstrated his art at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Stefan Martin achieved international acclaim for his unparalleled expertise in the art of end-grain wood engraving. This precise method of relief printmaking played a crucial role in producing illustrations for books, newspapers, and magazines throughout the 19th century. With the advent of halftone printing technology, wood engraving gradually transitioned from an industrial tool to an artistic practice, allowing studio artists to explore its creative possibilities in greater depth.

His much admired prints and incised paintings (collages) are in private collections and museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Chicago Art Institute, the Wall Street Journal, among many others. The artist lived and worked in Roosevelt, New Jersey where he watched his father, David Stone Martin, renowned illustrator, and his brother Tony Martin, also an artist. He unfortunately drowned nearby in a boating accident at age 58, in October 1994³.

Collections

Ben Shahn, "Martin Luther King," 1966, wood engraving by Stefan Martin, after a drawing by Ben Shahn, 18 ⁵⁄₈ × 15 ¹⁄₄ in. (47.3 × 38.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael J. Ettner, 2021.88.247.

Stefan Martin, "Self-Portrait," 1985, wood engraving Sheet: 36.8 x 26.7 cm (14 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.), Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 2012.1400.11.

The artwork print, "Holocaust," wood engraving by Stefan Martin is part of the collection at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. There is a hand of hope and a dove up in the left corner.

Stefan Martin in his studio. Press Photo, Trenton Times, NJ - 1973

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References

1 Commire, Anne. "Stefan Martin." Something About the Author, Vol. 32, Gale Research, Detroit, Mich., 1983, p. 124 - 127.

2 Stefan Martin, "Engraver Stresses Patience", New Jersey, October 20, 1983, p. 49.

3. Staff. "Stefan Martin; Artist, 58", The New York Times, October 19, 1994. Accessed November 21, 2017. "Stefan Martin, an artist noted for his wood engravings, drowned on Oct. 7 in Assunpink Lake in Millstone Township, N.J. He was 58 and lived in Roosevelt, N.J.