Emil Weddige

Emil Weddige was working at the University of Michigan at the time that this lithograph was made; expert in stone lithography.

He was born of American parents in Sandwich, Ontario, Canada on December 23, 1907. He showed artistic talent early on, and received his BA at Eastern Michigan University in 1904, later studying at the Art Students League in New York under Morris Kantor, and at Woodstock, under Emil Ganso. It was with Ganso that he was introduced to lithography, the medium with which he was to become most closely identified. In 1937 he joined the University of Michigan Art Department as an instructor, later receiving his Master of Arts there.

In 1949 he established a studio along the Montparnasse in Paris, where he was to work, off and on, all his life. He subsequently accepted a fellowship at the Tamarind Lithography workshop in California.

In 1957, he was appointed professor of art at UM, and, in 1974, professor emeritus. He retired that year, to devote himself to his art and his chosen medium, stone lithography.

Emil Weddige is widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers in the rebirth of color lithography. His book on the subject, titled Lithography and published in 1966, is regarded as the definitive text on lithography by most colleges and universities in the United States.

His works are colorful and playful with many representing Midwestern scenes. The artist himself said in 1955, "I work directly on the stone and my approach varies with the mood and feelings I have toward the idea in mind. I feel it necessary to approach each new thing without premeditated attitudes. I find many times that it is even necessary to invent new tools in order to express what is the intent of the moment. The answer rests in consistent experimentation and never ending research."

Professor Weddige died on February 8, 2001 in Michigan.

SOURCE - https://www.askart.com/artist/Emil_Weddige/10057254/Emil_Weddige.aspx (Oct 2025)