Works Of Mercy

By Robert Ellsberg and Fritz Eichenberg

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570755523
• ISBN13: 9781570755521
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Orbis Books
• Length: 109 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Incrediably moving art

This book contains the artwork of Fritz Eichenberg, much of which appeared in the Catholic Worker newspaper. The Gospel calls us to reach out to the poor and needy in our midst. Fritz Eichenberg's images takes the gospel from the pages of the Bible to our daily lives.

Works of Mercy, Works of Art, Words of Mercy

If you are interested in Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker philosophy - particularly that of personalism - you will want to own this. Eichenburg's art was not limited to woodcuts, but includes his words., i.e.,"...the moment you become aware that you are afflicted with a conscience, a social conscience, it changes your whole approach to any activity you're engaged in." Amen. Well illustrated,of course,(65+ illustrations) with lots of Day, Maurin and Thomas Merton musings.