Emil Weddige
Product Details
Emil Weddige, Canadian-American, 1907-2001. A 1950s lithograph on paper, titled "Triton". Signed "Emil Weddige" lower right; numbered 18/50, titled and dated "1955" lower left. Measures 21 x 29" high overall.
Biography:
Weddige first became interested in printmaking while studying at Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) with Orlo Gill. After receiving his BA, Weddige studied at the Art Students League in New York City with Morris Kantor and Emil Ganso before returning to Ann Arbor. He received an MS degree from the University of Michigan in 1937 then joined the faculty, remaining there until his retirement in 1974.
Although he began as a painter, Weddige concentrated primarily on printmaking after 1950. He was instrumental to the development of the print making program at U of M and in 1952 founded the Michigan Printmakers Society. He was also a founder and first president of the Michigan Watercolor Society. From 1955 to 1959 he maintained a second studio in Paris where he met Fernand Leger and worked with Edmond Desjobert. In 1962 Weddige received a Ford Foundation grant to work at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles. A pioneer in the renaissance of color lithography, Weddige is the author of the still widely used text “Lithography” (Scranton, PA: International Textbook Co., 1966).
He completed commissions for the Dow Chemical Corporation on the history of paper and for U of M on the history of the University for its sesquicentennial.