Renowned illustrator to give 20th Fox-Adler lecture Sept. 25

Famed book illustrator Barry Moser will talk about "Whales, Monsters, and Solitary Voyages: One Investigator's Travels Through Nineteenth-Century Literature" when he presents the 20th annual Fox-Adler Lecture at Skidmore College. The talk will begin at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in Gannett Auditorium in Palamountain Hall. The lecture and the reception following it are free and open to the public.

Both an illustrator and a maker of books, Moser has more than 300 book titles to his credit, including beloved children's stories, literary classics and the Bible. His imaginative and elegant images have earned wide acclaim. Many readers are familiar with his art in such books as Jump Again! The Further Adventures of Brer Rabbit, included on The New York Times "10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1987"; Whistling Dixie, his collaboration with Marcia Vaughn, which was named an ALA Notable Book in 1995; My Dog Rosie, his collaboration with his granddaughter, Isabelle Harper, and named a "Best of the Year" by Parents Magazine in 1994; and Big Double the Bear Meets Little Tricker the Squirrel, his collaboration with Ken Kesey, which was named one of the best books of 1990-91 by the International Board of Books for Young People of Zurich, Switzerland. Other works that Moser illustrated or designed include Moby-Dick, The Divine Comedy of Dante, and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which won a National Book Award for design and illustration in 1983.

"Barry Moser wields his engraver's knife as naturally as if it were a limb," wrote The Boston Globe in 2005.

Currently a professor-in-residence in art and printer to the college at Smith College, Moser previously taught for 10 years at the Rhode Island School of Design, served in 1995 as the Oates Fellow in Humanities at Princeton, and was a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of Louisville in 2001. He has received honorary degrees from the Massachusetts College of Art and Anna Maria College, and has been honored by the American Association of University Presses, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. In 1983 the New England Artist Festival named him a "New England Living Treasure."

A selection of Moser's works has been on exhibition at Skidmore's Schick Art Gallery since July. On view through Sept. 28, Barry Moser: Prints and Drawings includes prints, drawings, and books that reflect various stages of the artist's career. Other solo and group exhibitions have taken place throughout the United States and abroad. His work is included in the collections of a number of museums and libraries including the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, the Vatican Library, and the Israel Museum.

Skidmore's Fox-Adler Lecture Series is named in honor of the late Hannah Moriarta Adler and Norman M. Fox, connoisseurs and collectors of rare books. In 1967, Adler loaned her extensive collection of 19th-century books to Skidmore. After her death in 1989, Fox and his family took charge of her collection and initiated a yearly Adler Lecture as an occasion to discuss the importance of literature and art in the nineteenth century. In 2001, the event was renamed the Fox-Adler lecture. The collection became a permanent part of the college's Scribner Library in 2005, due to the generosity of Norman Fox and his family.

The Schick Art Gallery, located in the Saisselin Art Building at Skidmore College, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4:30 p.m. on weekends. Admission is free.