Remembering Santa Fe

By Willard F. Clark

Book Overview

Willard F. Clark was a printmaker and artist who greatly shaped the way the rest of the world views old-time Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born in 1910 in Boston, he grew up in Argentina, and studied art during the summers in New York City at Grand Central Station Art School and the Hawthorn Art Academy. In 1928, on his way to California, he stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico and fell in love with the majestic landscape of the American Southwest. There he started a small print shop and taught himself the craft of printing, cutting his own woodblocks, setting type, and binding small books. Willard Clark developed a graphic style that came to represent early Twentieth-century Santa Fe to many around the world.

This collectible reprint of Recuerdos de Santa Fe, 1928-1943 includes 48 beautiful and original etchings, along with reminiscences from author Willard Clark that capture the old-time feel of Santa Fe, New Mexico. First produced as a limited edition book with 100 signed copies, this edition includes an introduction by the artist's grandson Kevin Ryan. Remembering Santa Fe makes a perfect gift for those who love Southwest art, an ideal memento of a Santa Fe vacation, or a charming souvenir for anyone interested in the art and artists of the West.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423617142
• ISBN13: 9781423617143
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

sweet, authentic southwest life relived

The woodcuts are wonderful, but it's the easy-going memories of Willard Clark that make this book so worthwhile. Remembering Santa Fe is about a time before electronics ruled our lives, before clock and car and superhighway of one kind or another crowded out the figurative and literal open spaces in our lives. But Clark's firsthand graphic and verbal depictions of a bygone era are never sentimental; he obviously loved the life he led in pre-WWII Santa Fe, and we can see why. It was a sweet, authentic life, lived close to nature, close to the people around him, and with art. Generations passing along the secrets of their arts and crafts; fishing in a nearby stream; preparing simple but flavorful food; playing guitar with a friend in the moonlight; working in a field; going visiting; building adobes; all are part of the Santa Fe life that Clark's so lovingly and convincingly recorded. It makes me want to find a time machine and join him there.