During his sophomore year at Ohio State University, Landacre suffered a debilitating streptococcus infection that left his right leg permanently stiffened and his dreams of becoming an Olympic track and field athlete shattered.
Zeitlin's ever-widening circle of artists embraced Edward Weston, a photographer, and Henrietta Shore, a painter and printmaker, each of whom shared the modernist vision that so captivated Landacre.
Its thirteen original members included a cross section of local cultural and industrial elites who reflected the vigor, wealth, and cosmopolitan nature of early modern Los Angeles.
[3] Elected an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1939 and a full Academician in 1946, Landacre was honored in 1947 with a solo exhibition of his wood engravings at the Smithsonian Museum, its graphic arts division under the curatorial leadership of Jacob Kainen.
Of national and local appeal, many of Landacre's linoleum cuts and wood engravings were inspired by the American Far West, including the hills and mountains of Big Sur, Palm Springs, Monterey, and Berkeley.
In rapid succession, three books featuring his wood engraved designs also garnered such recognition: "The Boar and the Shibboleth" (1933), "A Gil Blas in California" (1933), and "XV Poems for the Heath Broom" (1934).
Landacre achieved a singular, mature style lauded for its formal beauty—meticulously carved fine lines, delicate cross hatching, and flecking—elements in white which strikingly contrast with velvety blacks.
[4] Landacre died in 1963, soon after, and emotionally resulting from, the death of his wife who had been an essential working companion for 38 years, even helping the artist late in his life pull impressions from the formidable Washington Hand Press.
Conservationist Charles J. Fisher successfully applied for landmark status, and in March 2006, the Landacres's hillside home was declared City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No.