| Biography | |||||||||
| Rutherford Witthus has worked with books for most of his life, starting in high school as a page in the Denver Public Library, where he was introduced to the world of rare books and fine editions by curator Harry Mooney. His subsequent interest in ancient philosophy led him to the University of Denver, where he received a BA and an MA in Philosophy. He taught there as an instructor during the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. An additional degree in Librarianship and Information Management allowed him entry into the professional library world, where he specialized in archives and manuscripts. After working for a number of years at the Denver Public Library and the University of Colorado at Denver, he finished his career at the University of Connecticut's Thomas J. Dodd Research Center as Curator of Literary and Natural History Collections.
As a retirement gift to himself, he enrolled in the Book Arts and Printmaking MFA program at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His interest in book structures was ignited in classes taught by Hedi Kyle, with whom he independently studied the design of Asian books. Combining his interest in ancient languages and book structures, he is currently working on a series of books of literary fragments. Over the course of the last decades, Rutherford Witthus has pursued traditional and alternative photography. His images are used primarily in his own book structures, although a few hang in private collections. |
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| Exhibitions | |||||||||
| 2008 | Celebrating the Sculptural Book: The Challenge of Structure |
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| Thomas J. Dodd Research Center |
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| University of Connecticut |
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| Storrs, Connecticut |
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| 2008 | molten | ||||||||
| depARTure at Space Gallery | |||||||||
| Denver, Colorado | |||||||||
| 2008 | Photoworks | ||||||||
| Abecedarian Gallery | |||||||||
| Denver, Colorado | |||||||||
| 2007 | Sense and Sensuality | ||||||||
| 23 Sandy Gallery | |||||||||
| Portland, Oregon | |||||||||
| 2007 | Action/Interaction: Book/Art | ||||||||
| Columbia College Center for Book & Paper Arts | |||||||||
| Chicago, Illinois | |||||||||
| 2007 | Visually Speaking: Art, Narrative and the Contemporary Press | ||||||||
| On the Street Gallery | |||||||||
| Memphis College of Art | |||||||||
| Memphis, Tennessee | |||||||||
| 2007 | Book in Hand | ||||||||
| Arts + Literature Laboratory | |||||||||
| New Haven, Connecticut | |||||||||
| 2006 | Beyond Words: Artists' Books, an international exhibition | ||||||||
| The University of the South | |||||||||
| Sewanee, Tennessee | |||||||||
| 2006 | The Flagbook Bind-O-Rama | ||||||||
| The Book Arts Web | |||||||||
| Online exhibition | |||||||||
| 2006 | 2 inch (and under) book + print exhibition | ||||||||
| The University of the Arts, Curator: Barbara Zuckerman | |||||||||
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||||||||
| 2006 | Turning Pages II | ||||||||
| Wardman Library | |||||||||
| Whittier College | |||||||||
| Whittier, California | |||||||||
| 2005 | Book Arts from UArts: Selections from The University of the | ||||||||
| Arts MFA Program in Book Arts/Printmaking, 1989-2005, | |||||||||
| Kamin Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||||||||
| 2005 | Artists' Books from Philadelphia and Timisoara, The University | ||||||||
| of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Library Humanitas Joc Secund, Timisoara, Romania | |||||||||
| 2005 | Passage: MFAI Group Show, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| 2004 | Selections from UArts MFA students, Whittier College, California | ||||||||
| Collections | |||||||||
| 2009 | Arthur & Mata Jaffe Collection, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida | ||||||||
| 2008 | Penrose Library, Special Collections, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado | ||||||||
| 2007 | Margaret Clapp Library, Special Collections, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts | ||||||||
| 2004 | Archives & Special Collections, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut | ||||||||
| Publications | |||||||||
| 1994 | Bookbinding in Colorado: Creating Practical Art Through Hand and Machine 1980-1980. Friends of Auraria Library, Denver, Colorado | ||||||||
| 1986 | Blickensderfer: Images of the West. Cordillera Press, Evergreen, Colorado | ||||||||
| 1986 | "The Artist and the Architects: Laura Gilpin Photographs Fisher and | ||||||||
| Fisher Buildings of 1920s Denver" Colorado Heritage 4 (1986) | |||||||||
| The Fisher Architectural Records Collection, 1897-1978: An Inventory. Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado | |||||||||
| 1983 | |||||||||
| Education | |||||||||
| 2006 | The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| MFA Book Arts and Printmaking | |||||||||
| 1981 | University of Denver, Denver, Colorado | ||||||||
| MA Librarianship and Information Management | |||||||||
| 1968 | University of Denver, Denver, Colorado | ||||||||
| MA Philosophy | |||||||||
| 1965 | University of Denver, Denver, Colorado | ||||||||
| BA Philosophy | |||||||||