PARALLEL READING: Book Design and California Modernism

The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture are pleased to present PARALLEL READING: Book Design and California Modernism with Johanna Drucker (Distinguished Research Professor of Information Studies, UCLA), a contributor to the MAK Center’s exhibition Reading Room.

In the 1920s and 1930s, modernism developed in Los Angeles under the influence of many British and European art movements and individuals. This sensibility is evident in architecture, film, music, and the graphic arts, including book design. California Fine Press is one realm in which the conspicuous influence of British Arts and Crafts, French Art Nouveau, Viennese Secessionism, and other groups is adopted and transformed. Among the key figures responsible for this activity in Los Angeles, Ward Ritchie was influential for the lessons he learned from studying in Paris with the outstanding printmaker/designer François-Louis Schmied. Other contributions came from the Humanist Revival in graphic design and from the Book Beautiful aesthetic. Interesting parallels and striking contrasts can be drawn between the emerging “modernisms” around Ritchie and his circle and those of Rudolph Schindler and his networks. This exhibition focuses on books in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library’s Press Collections to call attention to the ways reading style and design features provide insight into these cultural lineages.

• 3:30 PM – Doors Open
• 4:00 PM – Welcome remarks by Head Librarian Derek Christian Quezada Meneses
• 4:05 PM – Introduction to Reading Room by co-curator Robert J. Kett
• 4:15 PM – Overview presentation by Curator Johanna Drucker
• 4:45–6:00 PM – Reception and exhibit viewing

The exhibition PARALLEL READING: Book Design and California Modernism will be on view until January 2026, and will be open by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, please contact clarktours@humnet.ucla.edu.

The exhibition Reading Room is on view at the MAK Center at the Schindler House through September 14, 2025: 835 Kings Rd, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

The event is free to attend and will be held in-person at the Clark Library. Registration has reached capacity; to be added to the wait list please fill out the form below. Seating is limited at the Clark Library; walk-in registrants are welcome as space permits.

Image: This example of California modern fine press is a detail from Ghost in the Underblows, Alfred Young Fisher, 1940, printed by Ward Ritchie and designed by Alvin Lustig from typographic elements. Lustig had studied with Frank Lloyd Wright and was inspired by his designs.