Paul Peter Piech was an American artist, printmaker, and publisher. Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to Ukrainian parents, he spent a large part of his life in Wales, Piech is notable for his

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

and

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

prints that advocate for social justice. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' claims his "books and posters confront the viewer with the need for global responsibility and co-operation." The

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

described Piech as "internationally acclaimed." His Taurus Press published an edition of ''De Profundis'' by Oscar Wilde; ''Ugly Pieces of Metal'' by William J. Leahy; and John Gurney's poems ''Coal, a Sonnet Sequence'', the last of which had illustrations by Piech.

Biography

Early life

Piech was born to Ukrainian parents in Brooklyn on February 11, 1920. His parents had immigrated from Ukraine to Brooklyn seven years earlier (circa 1913). Piech was raised speaking Ukrainian; his parents read him a variety of poetry and stories from their home country. When Piech was 19, he studied at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

College of Art in New York City. His professors included German artists Hans Moller and

George Salter George Salter (5 October 1897 – 31 October 1967), born Georg Salter, was an originally German, and from 1940 onwards an American book cover designer. He revolutionized cover design for books. He claimed worldwide fame for his design for Alfred D ...

Career

In 1937, Austrian-American artist

Herbert Bayer Herbert Bayer (April 5, 1900 – September 30, 1985) was an Austrian and American graphic designer, painter, photographer, sculptor, art director, environmental and interior designer, and architect. He was instrumental in the development of the ...

of the Dorlands Advertising Agency hired Piech as a graphic artist. Piech's designs were influenced by Bayer's

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

aesthetic, as well as "

Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and German

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

." During WWII, "he was posted to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

" with United States Eighth Army Air Force. His duties included painting pinup art of blonde women in the front of aircraft to illustrate the "affectionate female nicknames" of the aircraft. In 1947, he married Welsh nurse and midwife Irene Tomkins in Wales. The couple had 1 daughter. A GI education grant enabled him to study further at the Chelsea College of Art. From 1951 to 1968, he worked as an artistic director for W. S. Crawfords Advertising. His campaigns included W. & T. Avery. In 1959, while still working in advertising, he set up his own printmaking company, The Taurus Press. According to ''

'', " er the next decade, he accumulated a Gem proofing press and other commercially redundant

letterpress printing Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing. Using a printing press, the process allows many copies to be produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker comp ...

equipment. In the early years, he used metal type to set his texts, but he became increasingly attached to his own rough and expressive linocut lettering." This led him to the creation of linocut images alongside "wise words" or "crass boasts" of figures including

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

, and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. Beginning in 1968, he quit advertising to work freelance as a graphic artist and educator. He "did not crave the perfect studio," instead working in garages of his series of suburban homes; living at different times in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He taught at

Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educati ...

London College of Printing The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...

, and

Leicester College of Art De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

. In 1979, the American Embassy protested Piech's print featuring an American flag turned sideways to represent prison bars, captioned " My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty."

Later life

Piech moved to Wales in the 1980s. He spent the last decade of his life in

Porthcawl Porthcawl (, ) is a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, west of the capital city, Cardiff and southeast of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the So ...

, Wales. He died on May 31, 1996, in Porthcawl.

Legacy

As of 2020, the

owns 200 of Piech's prints and posters, as well as 3,000 of the lino blocks he used, from whole prints to individual letters. Other collections are held by the

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Regional Print Center and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in London. On February 1, 2020, Mari Elin Jones curated ''The Literary World of Paul Peter Piech'', an exhibition at the National Library of Wales celebrating Piech's art and life. Prints on display included Piech's portraits of D. J. Williams,

Harri Webb Harri Webb (7 September 1920 – 31 December 1994) was a Welsh poet, Welsh nationalist, journalist and librarian. Early life Harri Webb was born on 7 September 1920 in Swansea, at 45 Tŷ Coch Road in Sketty, but before he was two the family mo ...

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, bas ...

, and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piech, Paul Peter 1996 deaths 1920 births 20th-century American artists Artists from Brooklyn 20th-century American printmakers Academics of Chelsea College of Arts Academics of De Montfort University Academics of the London College of Communication American emigrants to England American emigrants to Wales American publishers (people) American people of Ukrainian descent Cooper Union alumni