Events Highlight Famed Illustrator Fritz Kredel

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 2, 2010) − The University of Kentucky’s King Library Press is sponsoring a lecture and workshop focusing on the work of Fritz Kredel (1900-1973), one of the 20th century’s leading book illustrators. The UK Special Collections Library will host the Spring Book Arts lecture on Kredel at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 9, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Trained as an artist in his native Germany, Kredel came to the U.S. prior to World War II. He became a favorite of publishers Alfred A. Knopf, The Limited Editions Club and Peter Pauper Press. Kredel also illustrated works for two of Lexington’s private presses, Gravesend Press and the Anvil Press. In addition, he served as artist-in-residence at Transylvania University.

Judith Kredel Brown, daughter of the artist, will speak on her father’s work, giving special note to his activities in Kentucky. An anthropologist and women's studies specialist at Oakland University, she received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and master's and doctorate from Harvard. Judith Kredel Brown received a certificate in child development from the University of London and was a post-doctoral fellow at Radcliffe. She has been a visiting scholar at Harvard, Bryn Mawr and Stanford, and is the author of six books and many articles in the field of women's studies. 

Following Friday's presentation, a workshop will be offered Saturday, April 10, at the King Library Press. The workshop will include preparing suites of note cards using illustrations by Kredel commissioned for Lexington’s Gravesend Press more than 50 years ago. Participants in the Saturday workshop must register in advance, and there is a fee of $25. To register, call (859) 257-8408 or send a message to klijdb@uky.edu.  

The annual Spring Book Arts Weekend is historically presented by the King Library Press (KLP). The press is devoted to the tradition of fine printing and produces books and broadsides. Recent publications available from KLP include a portfolio of five poems by Kentucky Poet Laureate Jane Gentry Vance, Necia Harkless's "Heart to Heart" and Abraham Lincoln's "Second Inaugural Address."

For more information on the King Library Press Spring Book Arts Weekend, e-mail Jim Birchfield in the Special Collections Library at klijdb@uky.edu or call (859) 257-8408.