Design by lustig for new directions books edition of the play by tennessee williams, featuring a minimalist depiction of a man and two women on a lilac background. When elaine lustig cohen assumed ownership of her husbands midtown manhattan design practice after he died at the age of 40, most of. Pausing to locate the cover in her memory, she said, the jacket that youre talking about for tennessee williams, that was very late. With his first book for new directions, alvin lustig began a partnership that would revolutionize the art of book. The second annual exhibition of book jackets may 9 to june 30, 1949 ad gallery, new york city book jacket designers guild leo manso, c. Alvin lustig, modern american design pioneer about alvin. Published by the gotham book mart press 1947 with statements by james laughlin and alvin lustig artist.
Legacy throughout his career, alvin lustig designed book jackets using his personal vision and modern forms. He was born on february 8, 1915 to harry lustig and jeanette schamus in. Alvin lustig biography alvin lustig was a renowned twentieth century graphic designer. Library special exhibitions straight jackets cabinet 9 arthur rimbaud, prose poems from illuminations. With multidisciplinary talents, giusti also created sculptures, metalwork and designed several. Lustig wanted to be seen as a diverse designer, but. Alvin lustig, revolutionary book jacket designer and recipient of a 1993 aiga.
Alvin lustig was a renowned twentieth century graphic designer. Lacma makes commitment to graphic design eye on design. George giusti, an italianborn and educated designer, first established a professional practice in switzerland and later, in the united states. Visualizza altre idee su design copertine di libri, graphic design vintage e grafici. A oneman exhibition of lustig s work was mounted by new yorks ad gallery in 1949 and travelled to walker art center in minneapolis. Get the best deals on alvin lustig when you shop the largest online selection at. Alvin lustig book jacket for a streetcar named desire, 1947, from the. Included are books, architecture, interiors, ads, identity. Moma design is displaying a retrospective exhibition of acclaimed designer alvin lustig 19051955, including his book jackets for new directions. His publications include between amateur and aesthete. In her artists statement, cohen said, my life as an artist has been shaped by two passions.
Alvin lustig book jacket for a streetcar named desire. His career highlights include numerous book jackets for new directions and noonday press. Bookjackets by alvin lustig for new directions books, 1947 publisher. Elaine lustig cohen, artist, graphic designer, and aiga medalist known for her book jackets, exhibition catalogues, and pioneering typographic works, has died at the age of eightynine. It is sure to trigger pangs of belletristic acquisitiveness and perhaps even launch you on a new bookbuying addictionyet even the most dedicated collector will find it difficult to match the quality of the books displayed in this design show. Many of the book and magazine covers lustig produced have now become collectors items and this slide show highlights a select few of the.
Alvin lustig s book covers i was killing some time in south congress books the other day and the clerk showed me some original new directions books with these alvin lustig covers and they really. Anyway, there was a post or a link or some other worm hole a few months ago that led to a flickr page of book covers designed by alvin lustig for new directions in the late 1940s. Formal compositional elements alluded to the content emotionally, never designing. Exhibition announcement, exhibition invitation for alvin lustig. With his first book for new directions, alvin lustig began a partnership that would revolutionize the art of book cover design. Yet over the years, elaine and i have teamed together in promoting the legacy of alvin lustig. His playful book covers caught my attention and spoke to me of an element that is perhaps missing in my own studio work. By vicki isenstein, october 1, 2014 this exhibition looks at eight different book cover designers who designed the most popular book jackets between the years of 19972011.
World inventors exposition catalogue cover designed by alvin lustig. Alvin lustig alvin lustig, book cover art, book design. Alvin lustig, modern american design pioneer books. As publisher of new directions, laughlin hired lustig in the early 1940s. Lustig exhibition may inspire a new bookbuying addiction. But from the exhibition, id have to choose the william carlos williams book cover for paterson.
Jun 03, 2018 alvin lustigs contributions to the design of books and book jackets, magazines, interiors, and textiles as well as his teachings would have made him a credible candidate for the aiga lifetime achievement award when he was alive. By the time he died at the age of forty in 1955, he had already introduced principles of continue reading. Alvin lustig s restless curiosity during his short life was employed across many areas of art and design. Bookjackets by alvin lustig for new directions books. Nov 27, 2012 1948 book jacket designers guild exhibition the first annual exhibition of book jackets. Pioneering graphic designer, artist and archivist, elaine lustig cohen is recognized for her body of design work integrating european avantgarde and modernist influences into a distinctly american, midcentury manner of typographic communication. Each cover displayed an artistic unity where even the books title and author became simply. The alvin lustig archive includes over 400 designs from this important modern american design pioneer. Modern american book cover design princeton architectural press, 2005 which he coauthored with. The alvin lustig collection was donated to rit in 1986 by his widow, elaine.
I first met the artist and designer elaine lustig cohen through the website dedicated to her former husband, the legendary designer alvin lustig. His exhibition design explores the rational world, and his graphic design uncovers the subconscious, employing abstract forms to subtly unlock alternative levels of perceptions. See more ideas about alvin lustig, book jacket and graphic design. Alv i n l u s t ig was a midtwentieth century designer, whose work ranged from textiles and advertisements to interiors and furniture. His widow, moma design is displaying a retrospective exhibition of acclaimed designer alvin lustig 19051955, including his book jackets. A season of hell by arthur rimbaud 18541891, the precocious boypoet of french symbolism. See more ideas about alvin lustig, book cover design and book design. The book jacket designs of alvin lustig is a colorful and wellresearched representation of lustig s book cover designs that were created primarily for new directions books and noonday press, among others. Models, enlarged photographs and actual examples will be shown. In 1948 she married alvin lustig and taught junior high school for a year before quitting teaching to work in alvins studio. An exhibition featuring the work of modernists alvin lustig and elaine lustig cohen is on display at the aiga headquarters in new york until february 15th. Back in 2006, i had been asked to get in touch with the estate regarding his jacket designs for new directions. Front cover depicts three anthropomorphic forms comrpised of black lines surrounded by scribbles in thin white line. Alvin lustig died in new york on december 5, 1955, survived by his widow elaine firstenberg lustig, whom he had married in 1948.
He did incredible things with color and texture and had such a unique style. Alvin lustig, 1946 all book covers for new directions, unless otherwise noted. Bookjackets by alvin lustig for new directions books, 1947. The book jacket designs of alvin lustig graphic design archives chapbook 9781933360485. The show collects the book covers from between 1933 and 1961 over 500 hardcover and paperback designs, as well as magazine and catalog covers that demonstrate the lustigs unique blending of european modernism with an american. From new directions, alvin lustig is again the designer of a contrasting black and white on a hellishred cover while the artist keith vaughan 19121977, from the stable of john lehmann, delivers a more somber design. There is an exhibition worth visiting which explores the work of designers alvin lustig and elaine lustig cohen. In recognition of his illustrious multidisciplinary careerdesigning hundreds of book. Many of new directions classic titles now proudly wear their original lustig jackets. Giustis unique designs became widely praised covers for publications such as fortune, holiday, modern packaging, graphis and time. This may, new directions will issue an alvin lustig postcard collection.
The legitimization of photography in america, 18801900 the university of new mexico press, 2001 and by its cover. I decided to research lustigs work in the form of a blog post. Jan 06, 2009 a few days ago, i remembered that i liked design observera collective blog that occasionally includes posts from the great steven heller. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Dec 07, 2015 while researching for my annotated bibliography, i discovered the work of alvin lustig. The collective works of alvin lustig and elaine lustig cohen were showcased in a special exhibit at the aiga national design center in new york. A student of frank lloyd wright, among others, alvin lustig had a very successful career in graphic design and art direction. Included are books, architecture, interiors, ads, identity and print. Each wild idea by ori kometani, guernica by james victore, a million little pieces by rodrigo. The couple created a distinctive body of design work that includes book covers and editorial design, typographic design, and advertising, logos and even interiors. Case in point, the new exhibition vitality of new forms.
He further rejected the typical cover design that summarized a book through one generalized image. Between 1941 and 1952, lustig produced one masterpiece after another stylized, fragmented, some combining multiple photographs, others drawn by hand in glorious abstraction. I decided to research lustig s work in the form of a blog post. Biography an introduction about alvin lustig and his lifetime. Alvin lustigs book covers i was killing some time in south congress books the other day and the clerk showed me some original new directions books with these alvin lustig covers and they really. As a famed designer goes blind, his wife steps out from under. Charles rosnerthe growth of the book jacket 19541st ed, alvin lustig jacket. He was in the vanguard of a relatively small group who fervently, indeed religiously, believed in the curative power of good design when applied to all aspects of american life. The designer, alvin lustig, created an incredible body of work during his short life. A tale of two books by ward ritchie book alvin lustig remembered visual two graphic designers, alvin lustig and bruno munari. Alvin lustig papers, 19351955 archives of american art.
Frank lieberman, joseph low, alvin lustig, leo manso, fred mccarroll, e. Born in 1915, alvin lustig grew up in denver, colorado. See more ideas about alvin lustig, book jacket and book design. Mcknight kauffer, elizabeth lehman, riki levinson, reisie lonette, alvin lustig, leo manso, john marin, james mason, laszlo matulay, thoreau macdonald, fred mccarroll, william meek, carlos merida. For his valuable contribution to graphic design two of the most prestigious american art clubs honored him with the accolades. May 14, 2012 alvin lustig introduced principles of modern art to graphic design that have had a longterm influence on contemporary practice. Book cover of illumination by alvin lustig using a very highbrightness color palette conveys a sense of shining to the audience that is fit to the book title. His dust jackets were minimal distillations of the spirit of a book s contents, with. Alvin lustig s contributions to the design of books and book jackets, magazines, interiors, and textiles as well as his teachings would have made him a credible candidate for the aiga lifetime achievement award when he was alive. Their visual vocabulary captured the ethos of european modernism with a quintessentially american. Mcknight kauffer, william meek, irving miller, meyer miller, ava morgan, joep nicolas, oscar ogg. Revolutionizing the approach to book cover design in the 1940s, lustig would attempt to get a sense of the writers direction from reading the book and then translate it into his own graphic style the previous trend was to summarize the book with one image. And that was a jacket that alvin actually never saw. A reader by louis menand, designer john gall, typeface trade gothic a collection of oliver sacks book covers that align to make one incredible graphic.
The life and design of alvin lustig, by steven heller and elaine lustig cohen. His method was to read a text and get the feel of the authors creative drive, then to restate it in his own graphic terms, wrote james laughlin in the book jackets of alvin lustig print, vol. Design by lustig for new directions books edition of the play by tennessee williams, featuring a minimalist depiction of a man and two women on a lilac ba. From the book jackets of alvin lustig by james laughlin, print magazine, octnov 1956 the first jacket which lustig did for a new directions book the one for the 1941 edition of henry millers wisdom of the heart was quite unlike anything then in. Alvin lustig graphic designer vv published in us in 2014 by studio art ff. Aug 20, 2015 new directions is a series of small sculptures by mexican artist edgar orlaineta.
In addition, the tensile illustration makes the composition impressive. Through collecting, preserving, and providing access to our collections, the archives inspires new ways of interpreting the visual arts in america and allows current and future generations to piece together the nations rich artistic and cultural heritage. Modern american design pioneer alvin lustig messerwerferin. He also studied design independently with american architect frank lloyd wright at his taliesin studio. A cover storyan exhibition which includes nearly 500 of their book, magazine and catalog covers designed and illustrated between 1933 and 1961. Exhibition alvin lustig and elaine lustig cohen design ii. At a talk in 20, elaine lustig cohen, who was widowed by the books famous designer, alvin lustig, turned to steven heller, her interviewer on stage.
Alvin lustigs contributions to the design of books and book jackets, magazines, interiors, and textiles as well as his teachings would have made him a credible candidate for the aiga lifetime achievement award when he was alive. Part of a big find this afternoon of several early alvin lustig covers, as well as a couple from elaine lustig and paul rand. Modern american book cover design and purity of aim. Elaine lustig cohen 19272016 artforum international. A oneman exhibition of lustig s work was mounted by new yorks ad gallery in 1949 and traveled to walker art center in minneapolis. If one were to reconstruct, based on photographs, lustigs 1949 exhibition at the. Alvin lustig s contributions to the design of books and book jackets, magazines, interiors, and textiles as well as his teachings would have made him a credible candidate for the aiga. May 27, 2012 born modern by steven heller eye magazine 1993, vol. The book jacket designs of alvin lustig, rochester. Oscar wilde book jacket design by alvin lustig by scott lindberg, via covering book cover alvin lustig cover vintage book cover custom logo design from dapper paper book cover edouard roditi in the series the makers of modern literature. The alvin lustig collection was donated to rit in 1986 by his widow, elaine lustig cohen. Book jackets by alvin lustig for new directions booksfrom the collection of letterform archive.
See more ideas about alvin lustig, book jacket and cover design. Bookjackets by alvin lustig gotham book mart, 1947. It is sure to trigger pangs of belletristic acquisitiveness and perhaps even launch you on a new book buying addictionyet even the most dedicated collector will find it difficult to match the quality of the books displayed in this design show. Book cover, bookjacket by alvin lustig for exiles by james joyce.
Alvin lustig book design, book cover design, alvin lustig. Collaborating with rutgersnewark colleague ned drew, he published by its cover. Associate professor paul sternberger received his ph. Book jackets by alvin lustig for new directions books. While researching for my annotated bibliography, i discovered the work of alvin lustig.
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