Marcus Ratliff

1935 - 2022

Marcus Ratliff

White River Junction, VT — Marcus Ratliff, a graphic designer and artist and resident in Norwich, VT since 2002, died at the Village in White River Junction, Friday morning, February 4, 2022. Marcus was born September 20, 1935, in Cincinnati, OH, one of three children of Donald Ratliff, who drove city streetcars and worked for General Electric, and Jeanette Ratliff, a switchboard operator.

Marcus grew up in the Hyde Park and Evanston neighborhoods of Cincinnati, and attended Walnut Hills High School. He often spoke of a fifth-grade teacher's assignment to draw chalk murals on blackboards illustrating the achievements of Thomas Edison, on the day of Edison's hundredth birthday, as his eureka moment leading him toward a life spent in art and design.

He attended University of Cincinnati for two years before heading to New York City to study art at the Cooper Union, which was then tuition-free. During his student years he lived at the Judson House, behind the Judson Church, and in 1957 helped found the Judson House Gallery. These were important social hubs and exhibition spaces for a developing wave of American artists, including Jim Dine, Red Grooms, Eva Hesse, Claes Oldenburg, Tom Wesselmann, and Marcus himself.

After graduating from Cooper in 1959 and earning a scholarship to Yale—which he attended only briefly—he turned to graphic design full time. First working for Time-Life Books and Fortune Magazine, then setting up Marcus Ratliff Inc., his own design studio, he worked exclusively within the world of visual art. Along with the other designers in his studio, for forty years he created hundreds of exhibition catalogs, posters, invitations and other ephemera for galleries, museums, and publishers. His ability to communicate the creative essence of an artist's work through typography and other design elements was greatly respected; he sympathetically understood the different skill-sets of artist, designer, and printer. As he is remembered by friends for his humor and style, he is remembered by colleagues for the care and insight of his work.

In 1963 Marcus met Jennie Ratliff, a young Oxford graduate from England who was working at Time-Life Books. They married soon after, and lived in New York City, London, and Rockland County, New York, working together, traveling to many foreign countries (especially to Italy, their favorite), and raising two sons: Marcus Ratliff, of Sharon, VT, and Ben Ratliff, of Bronx, NY. Marcus and Jennie were together until Jennie's death in 2004, at their home in Norwich, of ALS. Marcus Jr. and Ben survive him, as do Marcus's daughters-in-law Amanda Ratliff and Kate Reynolds, and his grandsons Gavin, Luke, Henry, and Toby.

In retirement, Marcus returned to making art, mostly collages, which were exhibited in New York, Ohio and New England. He enjoyed his many friendships in the Upper Valley, particularly his morning coffee group in White River Junction and his neighbors in Norwich.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in his memory may be made for scholarships at the Cooper Union School of Art. Send to: The Cooper Union, Attn: Development, P.O. Box 22422, New York, NY, 10087-2422. Knight Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed in an online guestbook found at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.