Ulfert Wilke is known for his calligraphic creations. He was a teacher, art collector, curator and museum director. Born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1907, he immigrated to the United States in 1938. He taught at the Allen R. Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville from 1948 to 1964. He had a number of one-man exhibitions: Germany in 1930s and 1950s, Denver Art Museum in 1943, Georgia Museum in Athens 1956, De Young Museum in San Francisco 1959, Des Moines Art Center in 1970, a traveling exhibition in 1970, Charles H. McNider Museum in Iowa 1974 and the Arts Club of Chicago 1977.

During his career he was awarded Guggenheim fellowships to Germany and Italy; first prize in 1943 from the Delgado Museum in New Orleans; in 1956 a Georgia Museum purchase award.

Collections: Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Art, Des Moines Art Center, Dayton Art Institute, New, York University Art Center, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum and the Museum of Tel Aviv in Israel, University of Louisville.

Wilke is featured in Louisville Modern: an era in art.