Suydam, E. H. (San Francisco Drawings)

Edward Howard Suydam, an accomplished painter and printmaker working during the early part of the twentieth century. Suydam created a body of work that served to illustrate and document the development and growth of several important American cities. A student of Philadelphia artist Thornton Oakley at the School of Industrial Art, Suydam gained a firm background in illustration, which later led him to work for numerous books and periodicals including Harper’s, The Forum and Country Life. Suydam’s views of San Francisco are captivating and quite revealing about its architecture, commerce and growth. The primary purpose behind such views were to entice easterners to travel to the golden city of the west.