Fritz Eichenberg: Works of Mercy

Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1991) was one of the world's master wood engravers, renowned for his illustrations of literary classics, particularly those of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. A German immigrant and Quaker convert, he chaired the graphic arts department at the Pratt Institute in New York City, and authored The Art of the Print, which became a standard text. He achieved a different fame from his forty years of contributions to The Catholic Worker weekly newspaper, founded by Dorothy Day in New York City in 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression. A wide selection from this oeuvre are represented in this stunning volume edited by former Catholic Worker editor Robert Ellsberg. Eichenberg's stark and moving renderings of the life of Christ--among the homeless, the hungry, and the persecuted--represent a unique spiritual vision. Fritz Eichenberg: Works of Mercy includes an introduction to the artist's life and work by Jim Forest, another fomer CW editor, and more than fifty drawings and engravings accompanied by texts and meditations by such writers as Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Eichenberg himself. Both visually and spiritually stunning, this book is a unique and wonderful gift for those familiar with Eichenberg as well as those just coming to know his work. Read more