Victoria Craven, associate publisher of Monacelli Press and the founder of the Monacelli Studio imprint, died at her home on Long Island on May 25. She was 62, and had been suffering from lung cancer for the previous five years.
Craven attended Fordham University and, after working as a freelancer, held a series of positions at Plenum Press, McGraw-Hill, Random House, and Watson-Guptill, where she rose to become editorial director. In 2014, she was hired by Monacelli Press, now a division of Phaidon, to found Monacelli Studio, an imprint specializing in art-instruction books. Among the titles Craven published were The Figurative Artist’s Handbook by Robert Zeller, Basic Human Anatomy by Roberto Osti, Beginning Drawing Atelier by Juliette Aristides, Understanding Caricature by Greg Houston, and The Art of Still Life by Todd M. Casey.
Phaidon chief operating officer Philip Ruppel said of Craven: “Family, friends, colleagues, and the artist-authors whose books she nurtured will remember her intelligence, patience, generosity, and the fierce courage and determination she embodied throughout her life, especially in the face of devastating illness.”
Craven is survived by her husband and three children.
