You can help preserve and promote the tradition of Father Catich’s art education principles! We invite you to make a gift today.
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The 2024 International Calligraphy conference, hosted by the Chicago Calligraphy Collective, was held at
St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa
The Art Legacy League was represented by
President Amy S, Nielsen and Paul Herrera's
5-day class of Stone inscription Cutting.
A special thanks to
Jeff Young's
Young Art & Sign
for providing our
"Flat Father"
He was a really big hit at the conference.
We proudly present our stonecutter class of
ROMAN HOLIDAY 2024
Welcome to our ALL Bookstore
The Art Legacy League is happy to announce that the story of Father Catich’s life, RICH MAN, POOR MAN, PRIEST by Paul P. Herrera, is now available.
The letter-sized perfect-bound book explores the interesting facets of Father Catich's life beyond his well-known reputation as an artist, scholar, and priest. You can follow young “Ned” Catich’s journey from his Spartan existence as a 12-year old orphaned Montana boy with little else but his wits and determination, into a full-grown musician, author, publisher, lecturer, and messenger of Faith.
Send your personal check for $50 to the address shown below or visit our Art Legacy League SHOP. The cost includes shipping.
In the Catich tradition, A Calligraphic Handwriting Called PETRARCH, 2021 is much more than a "How to" book on calligraphy. It is a detailed look at the evolutionary impact of manuscript writing through history and the writing reform initiated by Francesco Petrarch. Father Catich felt so strongly about this hand that he personally used it to write out the texts of his two previous books; Letters Redrawn from the Trajan Inscription,1961 and Reed, Pen, and Brush Alphabets, 1972.
This book can be yours for $60 each. Our Canadian friends please add $20 for shipping.
The Art Legacy League accepts major credit cards or personal checks addressed to:
Art Legacy League
1225 E. River Drive, #201
Davenport, Iowa 52803
Text 309-236-2139 to make an appointment
and pick up your copy.
100% of the funds raised by the sale of these books go to support the Art Legacy League. Thank you for your interest and support.
Greetings! from ALL President, Amy S. Nielsen
Welcome to the
Art Legacy League!
I hope wherever this finds you, you are well in mind and body and enjoying art in many different ways.
I recently had the opportunity to teach a 2-day calligraphy workshop for the Waco Calligraphy Guild in Waco, Texas. Our source was A Calligraphic Handwriting Called PETRARCH by Father Edward M. Catich, copyright 2021. I continue to teach various classes at the Art Legacy League and at our Quad City libraries in Iowa and Illinois. I have enjoyed the opportunity to teach a FINGER PAINTING class at the Rock Island Botanical Center to Cancer patients and survivors. Paul Herrera and I taught several Calligraphy/Catich History classes at St. Ambrose University as well. What a wonderful opportunity to talk to the current students attending the University where Father Catich lived and worked about all that he has done for the world.
Under the tutelage of internationally known Brush Writer and Inscription Cutter, Paul Herrera CSM, my work as an inscription cutter is going quite well. Sales of my pieces along with commissions for special gifts continue to come in. Take a look at my website to see what I'm cutting right now:
2023 has proven to be a GREAT year full of a variety of art classes and seminars, including calligraphy and stone cutting at the Art Legacy League location. Look for the next class soon.
Thank you for visiting this site and being interested in what I'm doing. Take care and be happy!
The Half Scale Trajan Inscription in Slate
By Paul P. Herrera
The beautifully proportioned letters of the classic Roman alphabet are best exemplified in the inscription cut in a marble slab at the base of the Trajan Column erected in Rome A. D. 113. Father Edward M. Catich is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority of that inscription having made multiple rubbings from the monument and published two major books detailing the Trajan letters and how their images were written with a brush before incising. That process is explained in his book, The Origin of the Serif, 1968. Then there is Father Catich’s one-piece, full-sized cast taken directly from the monument in Rome which is believed to be the most accurate replica now in existence.
I am very familiar with Father Catich’s work in stone, having been his principal cutter during his final years. Most of our commissioned work involved Imperial Roman letterforms cut in slate. All of that experience led me to a project that has been on my mind for quite some time. It seemed natural for me to take on the challenge of cutting a half-scale replica of the Trajan Inscription in slate. Of course, I used Father Catich's documented research as the source for my piece.
I started by reducing his drawings from the portfolio in his book Letters Redrawn from the Trajan Inscription, 1961. Those letters were traced from the rubbings he made directly from the monument in Rome. I then measured the space between the six lines from his full-sized partial cast at St. Ambrose University and reduced those measurements by 50 percent. Another essential reference was to take his photograph (Plate 70) from Letters Redrawn and enlarge it to the size I needed. That provided me with the proper layout for the lettering. Finally, I used a drawing of his that does not appear in Letters Redrawn to fill in the missing letters at the center bottom of the Trajan Inscription image. In summary: I went to the best source and took the most care to create this half-scale replica.
The finished piece is black slate. The letters are gilt in 23 karat gold leaf. Black slate and gold are the most common elements that Father and I used in our work. That is why I chose them for this piece.
My finished slate measures 25 1/4 inches in height by 57 5/8 inches wide by approximately 1/4 inch thick and sits in a black oak frame. It now resides on the classroom wall of the Letterform Archive in San Francisco, CA
Above, Paul Herrera with his finished piece. Below, Father Catich and associates created rubbings of the letters carved on the Trajan Column in Rome.
Work by Rev. E.M. Catich
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