William Gropper

Gropper became one of America’s most celebrated political cartoonists, contributing for decades to publications including the New York Tribune and Vanity Fair, where his sharp, economical draftsmanship and satirical wit made him a formidable and widely read voice. He was called before the McCarthy hearings in 1953, a distinction he wore as a mark of honour.

In 1967 Gropper was formally invited to collaborate as artist-in-residence at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles — one of the most significant printmaking institutions of the twentieth century. Founded by June Wayne in 1960 with a Ford Foundation grant, Tamarind was established with a clear mission: to revive the craft of fine art lithography in America by training master printers and bringing major artists to the stone. The workshop transformed American printmaking, and an invitation to work there represented the highest recognition of an artist’s standing in the field. Working directly with Tamarind’s master printers, Gropper produced his print suite including The Teacher and The Immigrants — subjects of deep personal resonance. The immigrant experience was his own inheritance, and the figure of the dedicated teacher a recurring symbol of hope in his visual world.

William Gropper died in Manhasset, New York, in 1977. His work is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and major collections across the United States.