Title: Danny Pierce Woodblocks, Photographs, and Other Material
Inclusive Dates: 1995-1996

Creator:

• Pierce, Danny, 1920-

Call Number: UWM Manuscript Collection 224

Quantity: 3.2 cubic ft. (8 boxes)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Locations:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Special Collections

Abstract:

This collection contains woodblocks carved by the artist and former UW-Milwaukee art professor Danny Pierce for two of his books, Alces the Sad Moose (1995) and The Trek (1996). Also included are color photographs of Pierce taken while preparing the blocks and text for Alces the Sad Moose.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0224

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Danny P. Pierce was born in 1920 in Woodlake, California. He moved to Los Angeles to attend the Art Center School in 1939 and Chouinard Art Institute from 1940-1941, then worked as an artist for a novelty manufacturing company. Pierce was drafted in 1942 and served in the army during World War II from 1942-1945. From 1947-1948, he attended the American Art School in New York City, studying with William Gropper, Jack Levine, and Raphael Soyer. In 1948, he left school and moved to the Adirondack Mountains to paint, while living off illustrations he did for pulp magazines. Pierce returned to New York and attended the Brooklyn Museum Art School from 1950-1953, studying with Max Beckmann, Ben Shahn, and Gabor Peterdi. He moved to Kent, Washington in 1953, were he taught at the Burnley School for Professional Art and Seattle University's Art Department. In 1959 Pierce was named Artist-in-Residence under a Carnegie grant to establish the art department at the University of Alaska. He returned briefly to Kent, Washington in 1963 before moving to Milwaukee in 1966 to an appointment of Assistant Professor in the Art Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Pierce retired as Professor Emeritus at UWM and returned to Kent, Washington in 1985.

Pierce founded the Red Door Studio in Kent, Washington in 1959 with his book Little No Name. The press moved to Shorewood, Wisconsin when Pierce began work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and returned to Kent, Washington in 1985 when he left his position in Milwaukee. The Red Door Studio has published many titles including The Bear That Woke Too Soon (1964), Birds (1977), Cattle Drive '76 (1976), Sea Wrack (1981), Amish Days (1994).

Danny Pierce has been exhibiting his artwork both in the United States and internationally since 1946. He has won awards in painting and printmaking in juried exhibitions, which include the Connecticut Academy for Fine Arts' Green Memorial Award for best oil landscape and the first prize in oil painting given by the Southern Illinois Art Association. Pierce has also participated in a variety of open art competitions, such as the 6th Annual Print Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, the Northwest Printmakers International Annual at the Seattle Art Museum, the University of Southern California Print Annual in Los Angeles, and the American Color Print Society in Philadelphia. He has had a number of one-man shows at galleries and museums, such as the Creative Gallery and the Contemporaries Gallery in New York, the Tacoma Art Museum in Tacoma, Washington, the Bradley Galleries in Milwaukee, the Universities of Maine and Alaska, and the Kohler Gallery in Seattle. Pierce's work can be found in the permanent collections museums and libraries internationally, which include the Brooklyn Museum of Art in Brooklyn, NY, the New York Public Library, the National Museum of Sweden in Stockholm, the Bibliophial National in Paris, Princeton University, and the Library of Congress, as well as many private collections.

This collection consists of thirty-six woodblocks of various sizes used in printing the books Alces the Sad Moose (1995) and The Trek (1996), and color photographs of Pierce preparing blocks for Alces the Sad Moose. Also included is a letter regarding donation, dated July 13, 1995.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Gift from Danny Pierce in 1995 and 1996.

Processing Information

Amelia Klem processed this collection in Special Collections in January 2004.

	Alces the Sad Moose, 1995
Box   1	Title page Physical Description: Black ink block : 8 ½" x 13"
	Image 23
Box   1	Physical Description: Black ink block : 9" x 13"
Box   1	Physical Description: Gray ink block : 9" x 13"
Box   1	Physical Description: Ochre ink block : 9" x 13"
Box   1	Physical Description: Brown ink block : 9" x 13"
Box   1	Physical Description: Green ink block : 9" x 13"
Box   2	Physical Description: Dark green ink block : 9" x 13"
	The Trek, 1996
	Image 11
Box   2	Physical Description: Yellow ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   2	Physical Description: Orange ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   2	Physical Description: Dark purple/Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   2	Physical Description: Red-Orange ink block : 4" x 7 ¾"
	Image 12
Box   3	Physical Description: Black ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   3	Physical Description: Light blue/Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   3	Physical Description: Light Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   3	Physical Description: Dark Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
	Image 17
Box   3	Physical Description: Black ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   4	Physical Description: Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   4	Physical Description: Ochre ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   4	Physical Description: Cream ink block : 3 ¾" x 10 ½"
Box   4	Physical Description: White ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
	Image 19
Box   5	Physical Description: Black ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   5	Physical Description: Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   5	Physical Description: Ochre ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   5	Physical Description: White ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
	Image 22
Box   6	Physical Description: Black ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   6	Physical Description: Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   6	Physical Description: Yellow ochre ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   6	Physical Description: Lichen ochre green ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   6	Physical Description: Lichen orange red ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   7	Physical Description: White ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
	Image 31
Box   7	Physical Description: Black ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   7	Physical Description: White ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   7	Physical Description: Lavender Gray ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   7	Physical Description: Dark brown ink block : 7 ¼" x 10 ½"
Box   8	Physical Description: Brown ink block : 2 ½" x 10 ½"
Box   8	Physical Description: Green ink block : 2 ½" x 10 ½"
Box   8 Folder   1	Photographs of Danny Pierce cutting wood blocks for Alces the Sad Moose at Red Door Studio, 1995
Box   8 Folder   2	Photographs of Danny Pierce working on color separation for Alces the Sad Moose at Red Door Studio, 1995
Box   8 Folder   3	Photographs of Danny Pierce printing blocks for Alces the Sad Moose at Red Door Studio, 1995
Box   8 Folder   4	Photographs of Danny Pierce composing type for Alces the Sad Moose at Red Door Studio, 1995
Box   8 Folder   5	Correspondence, Danny Pierce, 1995 July 13