Victor Hammer

Victor Karl Hammer (December 9, 1882 – July 8, 1967) was an Austrian-born American painter, sculptor, printer, and typographer.

He began his apprenticeship in architecture at the age of fifteen in the studio of Camillo Sitte, author of Der Staedte-Bau nach seinen kuenstlerischen Graundsaetzen.

In 1939, he fled the Nazis and immigrated with his first wife to the United States, leaving behind all his cutting and casting tools and most of his fonts.

In 1948, Hammer settled in Lexington, Kentucky and was artist-in-residence at Transylvania University, a post he held until retirement in 1953.

While in Kentucky, Hammer was known for designing the official seal of Louisville, which was used until the city's city-county government merger in 2003.

[5] Hammer died in Lexington on July 8, 1967, and is buried in the cemetery of Pisgah Presbyterian Church near Versailles, Kentucky.