Lynton Richards Kistler (1897–1993) was an American

master printmaker Master printmakers or master printers are specialized technicians who hand-print editions of an artist's or printmaker's print-based artwork. Master printmakers often own and/or operate their own printmaking studio or print shop. Business activities ...

, small book publisher, and author. He became known as the best stone

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

in the United States, at the peak of his career in 1950s. He owned and operated the lithography press, ''Kistler of Los Angeles''.

Biography

Lynton Richards Kistler was born August 30, 1897, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He is descendant on his paternal side from northern Switzerland and southern Germany people, which had settled in

Kistler Valley Kistler Valley may refer to: * Kistler Valley (Antarctica) in the Dufek Massif, Pensacola Mountains, Antarctica *Kistler Valley, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States; see Lynton Richards Kistler *Kistler Valley Road, Albany Township, Berks ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and his maternal side was from England. His father, William A. Kistler had owned for 30 years ''Kistler Printing and Lithography'', a Los Angeles-based lithography and letterpress shop. He attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

and

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high scho ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1917 to 1918, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. In the late 1920s, Kistler learned lithography in this father's shop. Early in his career he befriended and worked with

Merle Armitage Merle Armitage (1893 - March 15, 1975) was an American set designer, tour manager, theater producer, opera producer, art collector, author, and book designer. Biography Armitage was born in 1893 in Iowa. Armitage became a theater set designer i ...

, and artists

Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French people, French-born United States, American Painting, painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, ...

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

. In 1936, his father sold the printshop, and Kistler started practicing lithography in the garage and briefly opened a business. In 1941, Kistler moved to New York City to work in printmaking at Blanchard Press. In 1945, Kistler moved back to Los Angeles and started printing for a larger group of artists at ''Kistler of Los Angeles''. Starting in 1948, he worked with printmaker

June Wayne June Claire Wayne (March 7, 1918 – August 23, 2011) was an American painter, printmaker, tapestry innovator, educator, and activist. She founded Tamarind Lithography Workshop (1960–1970), a then California-based nonprofit print shop dedicated ...

, and inspired her to open Tamarind Lithography Workshop (now

Tamarind Institute Tamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, United States. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on T ...

). Printmakers Joe Funk and Jan Stussy also worked in the Kistler print workshop. He stopped printing lithography in 1952 after experiencing an allergic reaction to the chemicals. Kistler worked with many artists over the years, included

Millard Sheets Millard Owen Sheets (June 24, 1907 – March 31, 1989) was an American artist, teacher, and architectural designer. He was one of the earliest of the California Scene Painting artists and helped define the art movement. Many of his large-scale bu ...

Wayne Thiebaud Morton Wayne Thiebaud ( ; November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021) was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his la ...

Lorser Feitelson Lorser Feitelson (1898–1978) was an artist known as one of the founding fathers of Southern California-based hard-edge painting. Born in Savannah, Georgia, Feitelson was raised in New York City, where his family relocated shortly after his bir ...

Helen Lundeberg Helen Lundeberg (1908–1999) was a Southern Californian painter. Along with her husband Lorser Feitelson, she is credited with establishing the Post-Surrealist movement. Her artistic style changed over the course of her career, and has been des ...

Beatrice Wood Beatrice Wood (March 3, 1893 – March 12, 1998) was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Avant Garde movement in the United States; she founded and edited ''The Blind Man'' and ''Rongwrong'' magazines in New York City with Frenc ...

Hans Burkhardt Hans Gustav Burkhardt (December 20, 1904 – April 22, 1994) was a Swiss-American abstract expressionist artist. Life and work Burkhardt was born in the industrial quarter of Basel, Switzerland. When he was three his father abandoned the famil ...

Eugene Berman Eugène Berman (russian: Евгений Густавович Берман, links=no; 4 November 1899, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 14 December 1972, Rome) and his brother Leonid Berman (1896 – 1976) were Russian Neo-romantic painters and thea ...

Clinton Adams Clinton Adams (December 11, 1918 – May 13, 2002) was an American artist and art historian. He was known for his contributions to the field of lithography. Biography Adams was born in Glendale, California. He worked in the art department ...

, , and

Joe Mugnaini Joseph Anthony Mugnaini (July 12, 1912 in Viareggio, Province of Lucca – January 23, 1992) was an Italian-born American artist and illustrator. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Ray Bradbury, beginning in 1952. Biography He ...

. He bought a commercial printing plant at 1653 West Temple Street in Los Angeles, which he held until 1970. From 1970 to 1976, he owned a larger commercial printing plant and ended with retirement. Kistler taught printmaking at

UCLA Extension UCLA Extension is a public continuing education institution headquartered in Westwood, Los Angeles, on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. Classes are held at UCLA, in Downtown Los Angeles, and other locations throughout Los ...

for many years. He died on November 9, 1993, in

Laguna Hills Laguna Hills (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in south Orange County, California, United States. Its name refers to its proximity to Laguna Canyon and the much older Laguna Beach. Other newer cities nearby—Laguna Niguel and Lagun ...

, at the age of 96.

Collections

Kistler's work is in public museum collections, including:

Bibliography

References

External links

Guide to the Kistler Printing and Lithography Collection
from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

, and

Online Archive of California The California Digital Library (CDL) was founded by the University of California in 1997. Under the leadership of then UC President Richard C. Atkinson, the CDL's original mission was to forge a better system for scholarly information management a ...

* The Fine Arts and Lithography in Los Angeles Oral History Transcript, 1988-89: Lynton Kistler, Oral History Program,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kistler, Lynton Richards 1897 births 1993 deaths American lithographers People from Laguna Hills, California Letterpress printmakers Artists from Los Angeles United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century lithographers