Untitled (Surveying the Land) 1949

Lynd Kendall Ward made this wood engraving, titled "Untitled (Surveying the Land)," sometime in the mid-20th century. It depicts a surveyor, standing on a platform as he gazes through his instrument. A helicopter hovers nearby. Ward was a master of the wordless novel, a form that addressed social themes through sequential images. This print may be a single image, yet its bold contrasts of black and white, together with its dramatic composition, tell a story of the changing American landscape. The surveyor and his instruments represent the old way of measuring land. The helicopter suggests a newer, faster, more technological approach. The print hints at the clash between nature and technology, a recurring theme in American art after World War II. To fully understand this image, one might consult archives of land surveys, historical accounts of aviation, and, of course, Ward's own writings about his artistic practice. The meaning of art is always contingent on its moment.