Horses - from the Animal Series

Jacob Landau

In 1961 Jacob Landau was commissioned by 'TV Guide' to do a series of 4 woodcuts, "The Animal Series", to be used for a newspaper advertising campaign. "Horses" was number 4 in the series and was done in two editions of 50 each.

Landau, using only black and white line, captures the chaos of a small herd of horses in full panic, their legs and hooves intertwined, their bodies writhing as they try to escape whatever danger has presented itself. A powerful image, done using a simple medium.

Jacob Landau was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 17, 1917. Landau began drawing at the age of three, and when he was 12 he began studying at the Graphic Sketch Club, now known as the Samuel Fleisher Memorial. In 1934 he won a competition in Scholastic magazine for his illustration for Kipling's Jungle Book. In 1935, Landau received a scholarship from the Museum School of Industrial Art to study illustration, printmaking and painting. After graduating in 1939 he moved to New York City, where he experimented with a variety of styles, treatments and media.

From 1954 to 1957 Landau taught at the Philadelphia College of Art before moving to Pratt Institute where he taught for 20 years. In 1975, he became a faculty member of the Artist teacher Institute, a 10-day summer residency program sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.