The Art Legacy League

Name: The Art Legacy League
Address: 1225 E. River Drive #201, Davenport, IA, 52807, US
Telephone: +15633432868
Price range: $$
Rating: 5

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The Art Legacy League

OFFICIAL page for The Art Legacy League. We are a non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting the work of the late Father Edward Michael Catich.
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We are dedicated to the preservation of the history, educational legacy and works of Edward Michael Catich, world renown artist. He founded the art department at St. Ambrose College, now university, wrote the definitive "Origin of the Serif", published numerous works, created a monumental body of work in collections around the world. His cut slates and stained glass were commissioned for numerous facilities, organizations and churches and his work is included in collections world wide.

06/30/2024

Who is that minding the The Art Legacy League merch table during the International Calligraphy Conference ? Why it is none other than the man himself, Father Edward Catich. St. Ambrose was such a perfect choice for the conference that many are hoping to have another calligraphy conference there soon.

06/30/2024

The International Calligraphy Conference has ended and what a wonderful experience everyone enjoyed. Thank you to ALL who made it happen so seamlessly and ALL who participated. I appreciate those who stopped by while I was demonstrating and the stone cutting class I was happy to help along. Looking forward to the next opportunity! Blessings ALL!

06/30/2024

Busy Bees hard at work in our 5-day stone cutting class at the Roman Holiday International Calligraphy Conference on the campus of St. Ambrose University. Some set chisel to slate for the very first time, some were return artisans who showed off their skills. We ALL had a great time enjoying the work and comradery. My thanks to every one of you. ❤

06/18/2024

History will remember Father Edward Catich as the man who cracked the code on how the first century Imperial Roman letters were formed. He was able to write those brush written letters with the consummate skill of a Chicago sign painter, exactly the way the Roman inscription cutters would have written them prior to cutting. Moreover, Catich's handmade 'Trajan' letterforms were the source of the first Trajan typeface, adding to his lasting impact on our modern technology.

Here are shown the dissected letter 'parts' according to Catich as recorded in his 1968 book "Origin of the Serif." Prof. Lloyd Reynolds described that work best when he wrote; "Father Catich has unusual powers of observation, analysis and synthesis. He has had years of shop experience in brush writing and stone cutting. He is a calligrapher with astonishing skill in the handling of all types of brushes and pens, as a research scholar he has spent years in Italy, as well as Greece, and has returned many times to the primary sources for further investigations. He possesses an even rarer ability. Like Ruskin and Morris before him he is able to enter into the lives of ancient craftsmen, rediscovering in his own mind and body the secrets of their art, and, as Edward Jonston put it, '... tracing in (his) own experience ... a process resembling its past development."

06/17/2024

E.M. (Ned) Catich was the Quad-Cities Chess Champion back around 1939 but gave it up because there weren't that many good players around. He began playing in the postal chess sections conducted by "The Chess Review" magazine in the 1940’s.

He took up the challenge of playing postal chess with individuals in North Dakota, Wisconsin, and St. Louis, Missouri. That way he could have several games going at the same time and more easily work them into his busy schedule instead of sitting in one place for extended periods of time at the local chess club or in his studio. Catich started as a ‘C’ player, did extremely well and remained unheard from in the chess world for quite a number of years until he resumed interest once again in the 1960's. One of his copies of an earlier edition of "Modern Chess Openings" was thoroughly annotated. He possessed a genius for postal chess according to Robert Long, a Davenport Chess magazine publisher. Catich once said that in 48 games, he scored 47 ½ points. He said, "In the one game I drew. I was losing, you see, but my opponent didn't realize it and accepted my draw offer.”

06/14/2024

These available on Market night International Calligraphy Conference! The stone on left with the electroplate placed underneath is a Fr. Catich design from the 1940s. The stone and electroplate is a set. ⚒️

06/12/2024

Father Catich received the Heath Literary Award in July of 1956. It was an award given by the American Numismatic Association for his articles published by the association’s magazine, The Numismatist.

Catich was one of eight association members to receive the award for his three-part article, “AU or BU,” that appeared in the May, June and July issues of the magazine. The articles informed professional collectors how they can distinguish between “Almost Uncirculated” (AU) coins and the more valuable “Brilliant Uncirculated” (BU) coins. AU coins have been in circulation only briefly; BU coins have never been in circulation and are, therefore, in “mint condition.” Catich had been a coin collector and an authority on coins for more than twenty years.

The articles were presented as “A new approach to scientific grading” and were co-authored by Lloyd B. Gettys of David City, Nebraska. Until the time of their series of articles, the grading of coins had been inconsistent. The article stated; “It is probably no exaggeration to say that the prime source of resentment among novices as well as advanced numismatists is the attempt by some coin owners to nudge their About Uncirculated coins into the Uncirculated bracket.” The Catich/Gettys series helped coin collectors establish clear cut definitions of coin grades with lines of demarcation between classes. Their articles were illustrated with photographs of various coins indicating each coin’s high spots where the first signs of wear generally appear. They also explained how newly minted coins can acquire any number of nicks and scratches and yet be considered strictly uncirculated.

06/11/2024

Straight outta Al Capone's Chicago. 1932
Edward M. (Ned) Catich begins his St. Ambrose journey.

06/09/2024

I met Father Robert Palladino when he came to study with Father Catich in 1969. By the time summer rolled around, Father Palladino was back at Reed College teaching in partnership with Lloyd Reynolds. Reynolds retired shortly thereafter. Palladino’s class called “Calligraphy and Paleography” utilized scripts from the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, the Carolingian period, the early fourth and fifth century uncial manuscripts, and inscription letters. He also taught the evolution of the alphabet through Hebrew and Latin. It was that class which greatly influenced the young Steve Jobs, who would become a co-founder of the Apple Computer Company.
“When designing the first Macintosh computer, Steve Jobs remembered his calligraphy course at Reed College and built it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography," said Jobs.
A Tribute to a Great Artist: Steve Jobs by Henry Adams - smithsonianmag.com - OCT 6, 2011

06/08/2024

Just finished. It will be for sale at the International Calligraphy Conference!

06/06/2024

See Father Catich's full-size, first test, partial cast of the Trajan Inscription on the 3rd floor of St. Ambrose University Library during Roman Holiday International Calligraphy Conference June 22-29.

06/06/2024

Cast of the Trajan Inscription in Rome prepared by Edward M. Catich for the R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company of Chicago. This cast is the first accurate rendition of this notable inscription and supersedes renditions based on the cast in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Source: THE ART OF WRITTEN FORMS The Theory and Practice of Calligraphy
Donald M. Anderson/University of Wisconsin
Copyright ©1969 by Holt, Rineheart and Winston, Inc.

06/05/2024

Father Edward M. (Ned) Catich. Author and illustrator of "Letters Redrawn from the Trajan Inscription" (1961), "The Origin of the Serif" (1968), "Reed, Pen, & Brush Alphabets for writing and lettering" (1972), and "A Calligraphic Handwriting Called PETRARCH" (posthumously 2021).

05/19/2024

Wonderful presentation about Fr. Catich and the Art Legacy League for Beta Sigma Phi at Deere Wiman! Great group of service oriented women. Pictured lower right is Leanne Satterthwaite grandson who is a budding artist. He wanted a picture of his portfolio next to mine.

05/03/2024

Latin initialism for "The Senate and People of Rome" SPQR are the initials of a Latin phrase Senātus Populusque Rōmānus. It means "The Senate and People of Rome". It refers to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It is still used as an official emblem of the modern-day municipality of Rome.

04/02/2024

Staying very busy at the Art Legacy League. Roman Imperial Alphabet, 23K and sterling silver, to show at the International Calligraphy Conference at SAU in June.

Address

1225 E. River Drive #201
Davenport, IA
52807

Telephone

+15633432868

Website

http://www.artlegacyleague.org/

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Father Catich received the Heath Literary Award in July of 1956. It was an award given by the American Numismatic Association for his articles published by the association’s magazine, The Numismatist. Catich was one of eight association members to receive the award for his three-part article, “AU or BU,” that appeared in the May, June and July issues of the magazine. The articles informed professional collectors how they can distinguish between “Almost Uncirculated” (AU) coins and the more valuable “Brilliant Uncirculated” (BU) coins. AU coins have been in circulation only briefly; BU coins have never been in circulation and are, therefore, in “mint condition.” Catich had been a coin collector and an authority on coins for more than twenty years. The articles were presented as “A new approach to scientific grading” and were co-authored by Lloyd B. Gettys of David City, Nebraska. Until the time of their series of articles, the grading of coins had been inconsistent. The article stated; “It is probably no exaggeration to say that the prime source of resentment among novices as well as advanced numismatists is the attempt by some coin owners to nudge their About Uncirculated coins into the Uncirculated bracket.” The Catich/Gettys series helped coin collectors establish clear cut definitions of coin grades with lines of demarcation between classes. Their articles were illustrated with photographs of various coins indicating each coin’s high spots where the first signs of wear generally appear. They also explained how newly minted coins can acquire any number of nicks and scratches and yet be considered strictly uncirculated.