About

BARRY MORENTZ owns and operates his Manhattan studio where he creates calligraphic works and hand-made books, boxes, and portfolios. He holds an MA in Medieval History, but abandoned pursuit of a doctorate in favor of an even less likely career in calligraphy. Initially self-taught, he began his formal calligraphic studies, primarily with Sheila Waters, in 1977, and eventually with Gottfried Pott at every opportunity. A seminal experience was participation in the Hermann Zapf Master Class at RIT in 1985, and subsequent paleographic studies in Rome and the Vatican Library. He has taught numerous workshops throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and at five international Calligraphy Conferences. In his midtown studio he ministers to the needs of The New York Public Library, Estee Lauder Companies, Cartier, Columbia University, and The Museum of Modern Art, where he has been The Living Anachronism since 1986. His day-to-day work includes Illuminated Resolutions, Award Design, Publications Headings, Book and Portfolio Design, and addressing The Omnipresent Envelope. His extra-curricular interests include reading and lettering Shakespeare and Danté, listening to Classical Music and Opera, and getting lost in gourmet food markets.

After more than 40 years he remains inspired by the visual and emotional power of letterforms to communicate on a deeply-felt level and to challenge the viewer to discover the layers of meaning within a text.