Description
Dard Hunter (1883-1966) is perhaps best known to Arts and Crafts enthusiasts as the Roycrofter who designed the graphic elements of so many of the books issued by Elbert Hubbard’s print shop at the Roycroft campus in East Aurora, NY. Dard Hunter seemingly is less well known for his many other artistic endeavors including his contributions to the arts of print- and paper-making.
In 1908, Dard Hunter married Edith Cornell, a pianist whom he met while a Roycrofter. The couple honeymooned in Vienna, a location that particularly appealed to Dard Hunter because of his strong interest in Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstatte. In fact, shortly after the honeymoon, Dard Hunter returned to Vienna to take courses in lithography, book decoration, and letter design at the K.K. Graphische Lehrund Versuchanstalt (Royal-Imperial Graphic Teaching and Experimental Institute) in Vienna. Much of Dard Hunter’s subsequent work invoked the geometric patterns and highly stylized figures to which he was exposed there.
Around 1909, Dard Hunter, according to his autobiography, produced some 3000 sets of six prints depicting in bold colors the Roycroft Inn and other buildings on the Roycroft campus. The prints clearly reflect the popular Arts and Crafts aesthetic of Vienna at the time.
We have faithfully reproduced a very limited number of sets of these Dard Hunter prints together with the printed envelope in which they were originally offered to the public. The dimensions of each image are 5¼” x 3¼”; the overall dimensions of the stock on which each image is printed are 8¼” x 6½”.
Fifteen sets of six prints available @ $30.00 per set.
