Rudolph Ruzicka

1883 - 1978

Rudolph Ruzicka emigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia with his parents at the age of ten. He received some drawing instruction at the Hull House in Chicago before leaving school and becoming an apprentice wood engraver. Between 1900 and 1902 he worked for several Chicago firms and attended classes at the Art Institute. He moved to New York in 1903 and worked for the American Bank Note Company and the Calkins and Holden advertising agency. During this time he also attended classes at the Art Students League. In 1910 he receive d his first major commission for System magazine. He had several exhibitions throughout his career including the “Premiere Exposition” of the Societé de la Gravure, Paris, Anderson Galleries, New York, Grolier Club and the Century Association, New York. In 1935 his work was in an exhibition sponsored by the AIGA and he was awarded the AIGA Gold Medal. He moved to Massachusetts in 1948 and then eventually settled in Vermont. At the age of ninety he created the “Dartmouth Medal” for the American Library Association

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