Charles Turzak

American, 1899 - 1986

Charles Turzak was one of Chicago’s greatest printmakers of the Art Deco-era. Son of a coal miner, Charles Turzak was born in Streeter, IL in 1899. In 1920, Turzak won the first prize a cartoon contest sponsored by the Purina company and he used his prize money to enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago. Best known as a print maker, in the 1920s & 30s, he created woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most notable buildings, including the Merchandise Mart, Palmolive Building and the Old Water Tower, among others. In 1933, he was commissioned to create woodcuts of many of Chicago’s most iconic buildings to illustrate a guidebook called “All About Chicago” by John and Ruth Ashenhurst” that featured the upcoming Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. During the 1933 World’s Fair, Turzak sold a book and collection of prints he created about Abraham Lincoln. Later, he created other series of prints dedicated to other patriots, such as Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton. Some of these prints also illustrated Federal Hardware and Implement Mutuals Company of Dallas calendars.

Charles Turzak exhibited at the Art Institute if Chicago in 1940, and also created a WPA post office mural in Lemont, IL. His works can be found in the collections of such museums of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Terra Foundation of American Art, the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C, among others. Later in life, Turzak retired to the Orlando Florida area, where he continued to create prints and paint until his death in 1986.

Read Less

South of the Loop, ca. 1936

Woodcut in colors on paper

9 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#22310
Under the Bridge, 1934

Woodcut in colors on Japan paper

8 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#22319
Randolph Street - Chicago (From Series Chicago Moods in Color), 1935-1936

Color woodcut on Japan paper

12 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil
Edition of 50

#21888
North Branch of the Chicago River, ca. 1930

Color woodcut on paper

9 1/4 x 12 inches

Signed and titled in pencil
Edition of 25

#22324
Loop Alley, ca. 1935

Color woodcut on paper

11 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil
Edition of 25

#22323
The Fountain, ca. 1927

Woodcut in colors on Japan paper

5 1/2 x 8 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#21848
Shadows on the Avenue, ca. 1931-1933

Woodcut on paper

13 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#22637
Palm Olive Building, ca. 1931

Woodcut on paper

12 1/2 x 9 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 24/50

#22629
LaSalle & Washington Streets, ca. 1933-1934

Linoleum cut on paper

11 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#22634
Michigan Avenue Bridge, ca. 1929

Woodcut on paper

12 3/4 x 9 inches

Signed in plate; signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 7/50

#22630
Chicago River, ca. 1931

Woodcut on paper

11 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil,
Edition: 20/50

#22635
Lincoln Park, ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

10 x 12 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#22631
Chicago Tribune Tower, ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

10 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches

Signed Turzak in plate; titled in pencil

#22316
Old Water Tower (Chicago), ca. 1940

Woodcut on paper

10 1/4 x 7 inches

Signed in plate; signed and titled in pencil
Edition of approx. 100

#22632
Merchandise Mart, 1931

Woodcut on paper

9 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 24/50

#22315
Methodist Temple, Chicago, 1931

Woodcut on paper

13 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches

Woodcut on paper
Edition: 45/50

#22314
Forms Masculine, Feminine, 1932

Woodcut

12 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 4/75

#8446
The Kiss, 1932

Woodcut on paper

9 x 4 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 85/100

#22311
Dancers, 1939

Woodcut on paper

10 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 52/100

#22312
Oak Street Beach, 1935

Woodcut

5 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches

Signed and titled in pencil

#21890
Meditation, ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

7 x 4 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 33/50

#22318
Grant Park, 1931/33

Woodcut

12 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 29/50

#21889
Ghetto, 1931

Woodcut on paper

12 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 9/50

#21891
Men’s Quadrangle, N.U. Evanston, Ill., ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

9 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 34/50

#22624
Northwestern University, ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

10 1/2 x 11 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 42/50

#22623
Old College N.U., ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

9 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 20/50

#22622
Union Building, Northwestern University, ca. 1930s

Woodcut on paper

9 x 11 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 29/50

#22625
Carl Sandburg, 1941

Woodcut on paper

6 1/2 x 5 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
18/50

#8246
Sault St. Marie, Michigan, ca. 1930s

Woodcut in colors on Japan paper

10 x 12 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 82/100

#22313
Sailing on the Blue, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 22/50

#22617
Birds Eye View Pictorial Map of Chicago Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Tudor Press, Boston, MA , 1931

Lithograph in colors

23 x 38 inches

#22273
An Illustrated Map of Chicago Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Tudor Press, Boston, MA , ca. 1931

Lithograph and collage in colors on paper

9 x 12 3/4 inches

#22639
Space Plant, ca. 1935

Lithograph in colors on paper

8 1/2 x 12 inches

Signed and titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 18/50

#22615
The Phantom, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper with embossed pattern motif

12 1/2 x 6 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 18/50

#22619
P.C. 10 The Infinite and the Finite, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper with embossed pattern motif

12 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches

Signed and titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 1/50

#22618
Impact P.C. 7, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 x 12 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 28/30

#22613
Paper Cut No. 10, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 19/50

#22606
Paper Cut No. 3X, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 1/4 x 12 1/2 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 29/30

#22621
Paper Cut No. 4 Square, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

12 x 9 1/4 inches

Signed and titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 30/50

#22604
Paper Cut No. 1, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

11 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 12/25

#22605
Paper Cut No. 6, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

12 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 25/30

#22609
Spectrum - Paper Cut No. 8, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

11 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches

Signed and titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 29/50

#26611
Paper Cut No. 2, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

11 1/2 x 9 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 9/25

#22601
Star of David, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

11 1/2 x 9 inches

Signed in pencil

#22608
Birds in Flight, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

8 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

Signed and titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 34/50

#22641
Birds Soaring, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

12 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches

Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
Edition: 16/25

#22640
Line and Fish, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches

Signed and titled in pencil
Edition of 50

#22642
Line and Fish, ca. 1950s

Lithograph in colors on paper

9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches

Signed, numbered and titled in pencil
Edition: 6/50

#22643

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