History

William Drenttel|Slideshows

One Man's Literary Compass

When I look at my bookshelves, I see my life. Whole glimpses of previous interests are represented, from my collection of Latin American fiction to the many reminders of the years I spent living in Italy (the novels of Primo Levi and Italo …

Steven Heller|Essays

Silas H. Rhodes, Founder of SVA

Silas H. Rhodes, chairman of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, died last Thursday at 91. He was a progressive educator who established a uniquely collaborative learning environment that delicately balanced creative independence …

John Corbett|Slideshows

Sun Ra, Street Priest and Father of D.I.Y. Jazz

Sun Ra, photographer unknown, circa 1950, Chicago.The space-voices got me on a space wisdom beam, and the beam led me to Chicago.— Sun Ra, 1962April 13, 1956, Chicago. Sun Ra and his friend and manager Alton Abraham arrive at Balkan …

Steven Heller|Essays

Martin Weber in the Third Dimension

Pages from "The Weber Process," promotional brochure for the Martin J. Weber Studio, c. 1952When he died on June 9, Martin J. Weber was 102. You may not know his name. I didn't. Like other toilers in the art service bullpens of New York …

Eric Nevin|Essays

Love Letters to Sub-Antarctic Islands

Assigned one portion of a world map, distributed in pieces by visiting critic Karel Martens to his graphic design students at the Yale School of Art, Eric Nevin created a booklet of love letters to the islands of the sub-Antarctic. The …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Ad Reinhardt, Graphic Designer

Ad Reinhardt, detail of scrapbook page, ca. 1934. Courtesy of Smithsonian Archives of American Art.The American abstract expressionist painter Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt, who died in 1967 at the age of 54, is remembered as a …

Steven Heller|Essays

The Nazi Triangle

Chart of concentration camp badges worn in Dachau, c. 1936.If the canard that Adolf Hitler was a superb art director is meant to glorify the art directorial profession, think again. Although historians say he was the "art dictator" of …

Dmitri Siegel|Essays

The New New Typography

Vier5, Poster for Exhibition Phalanstère with Prinz Gholam, Hans Walter Müller and Matthieu LehanneurI first saw the work of French design team Vier5 (Marco Fiedler and Achim Reichert) in Tokion magazine a couple of years ago, …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Annals of Ephemera: Town & Country Cookbook

Cover, Town and Country Cookbook, 1953Books are, by their very nature, often judged by their covers. Like miniature posters or single-frame film trailers, the book cover is the visual prologue to what lies beneath. Book cover designers are …

William Drenttel|Essays

International Polar Year

International Polar Year 2007-2008, logo, designed by Ralph Percival, Mouse in the House Graphic Design, 2006.In what may turn out to be the biggest international scientific project to date, an army of thousands of scientists will spend …

Steven Heller|Slideshows

The Other Monocle

Monocle, cover detail, design by Phil Gips, 1963.A whole lot of blog hoopla has been recently generated about Monocle, the spanking new art, culture and issues magazine from Wallpaper's creator Tyler Brûlé. He's the guy who …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

The Illusion of Certainty

Allan McCollum, Each and Every One of You, 2004. 1200 digital inkjet prints. Photograph courtesy Barbara Krakow Gallery.Last fall, at a small gallery on West 22nd Street in New York, the artist Allan McCollum exhibited his new system for …