Homework #10

The Modern Movement in America and the International Typographic Style: Immigrants to America and War Years

            When we think of the Modern art movement, we imagine the 1930’s with very traditional illustrations.  Yet the movement was breaking ground many years before the 1930’s, with typefaces, book designs and editorial designs for business and fashion magazines. During the early 1900’s new typefaces were being designed and new ways to layout information was being created. Graphic designs during this time could be found with uncommon title-page arrangements and two-column book formats. And with typefaces like Futura, Kabel, Caledonia and Electra, fonts were now taking a design of their own. These graphic styles helped form a movement that has altered the way we design in the 21^st Century.

            During the late 1930’s migration was at an all-time high. The influx of immigrants to the United States also brought new designers with new ideas.  Many artists from European countries like Germany had to migrate in order to continue work as a designer. Artists like Georg Salter, had been barred from employment in Germany and immigrated to New York.  During 1922-1934, Salter produced hundreds of book designs and specialized in creating book jackets. Due to his sensitivity to type and literary expression, he had an amazing capability of creating a design for the cover of books.  Salter specialized in pen-and-ink drawings, panoramic watercolors, calligraphy and photomontage. His amazing combination of calligraphy and illustration had the ability to entice any reader. Each of his cover designs held a different energy that almost told the story that was inside book.

Erte, was a Russian-born immigrant who was a set designer and designer for Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Erte designed in a very art deco manner, which combined cubism with exotic decorativeness and fashion. Later in his career he even designed fashion for movies. Yet his graphic designs and illustrations set him above the rest. Many of his magazine covers displayed a sophisticated and feminine image. With new rich and eye-catching designs, a desire to capture the reader’s attention had been ignited. Artists like Alexey Brodovitch began to use photography in their graphic designs. Brodovitch designed covers for Harper’s Bazaar magazine as well as Erte. Yet Brodovitch had a way of cropping and juxtaposing images together. Along with his amazing use of text and images, he used white space and open pages. This brought a new freedom to magazine cover designs during this time.
       The war years, which began in 1941, brought a massive change to graphic designs during the era. Designers were creating informational training material, posters and even cartoons. The U.S. Office of War In formation asked designers to help create many of these works through commissions. Artist Jean Carlu, helped the U.S. by creating posters using visual and verbal elements about labor and production. These strong designs usually had one key illustration with text.  Since the goal of these posters was to stir emotion in the American citizen, designs were usually simplistic and minimal, yet held a strong emotional presence. With the use of dramatic contrasts of color, these simple graphic symbols became very powerful.  Artists like Herbert Bayer, created intense graphic designs with his use of simple, straightforward headlines, along with a chilling image. Designs like this brought a sense of urgency to helping the cause. Many artists used this sense of urgency and fear in their designs. Other artists like Ben Shahn, created a startling poster design that effectively displayed the war, by using direct words and images. During this time graphic design went in a direction it had not yet traveled. In the United States, designs and artworks were now being used to instill a sense of fear and necessity, which had not yet been touched by designs.

George Salter, 1935

Erte, 1925

Alexey Brodovitch, 1956

            

Jean Carlu, 1942

Herbert Bayer, 1942

Ben Shahn, 1942

Pautsch typeface

Pautsch Typeface

During class we had the opportunity to create a typeface that represents ourselves. Using our initials, we were to design a type any way we pleased. At the start of this project, I found that I had become stuck and didn't know what to create. I figured the best way to get past this block was to just draw and let my ideas flow freely. Being a designer has taught me to research before starting a design. But in this case I was unable to do so. I found this to be a good thing because I could truly let my artistic mind come through. There were some ideas that I created that did not flow in the way I wanted to. Some of my designs worked, while others didn't. So when faced with a typeface that didn't work, I combined it with another to try to create something that might work! In the end I chose a design that was bold yet delicate. After finishing it, I was very happy with the design and could even see it used with color or maybe used on an Easter product. I would be interested in trying to design the lowercase letters for this typeface. Overall this was an amazing learning experience that has helped me learn how to work with creating something that works, out of something that may not.

Homework #9

The Bauhaus and the New Typography

            During the final years of the Bauhaus, artists like Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Josef Albers, breathed a new life into the art being designed at the time. Before the Nazi party shut down the Bauhaus in 1932, these professors changed the way we look at art today.

            Paul Klee was a German-Swiss painter, born December 18, 1879 in Switzerland. He was surrounded by music when growing up. Both his parents were music teachers and encouraged him to pursue it, yet he was more interested in visual arts. Though he is most well known for his successful color theory, while studying at Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, he failed his color theory classes. Klee taught at the Bauhaus from 1921-1931, as a master of stained glass, mural paintings, and bookbinding. His sense of humor, background with music, and moods influenced much of his work during his career. Upon leaving the Bauhaus, he and Kandinsky traveled to the United States to lecture and exhibit their artworks. Klee demonstrated an amazing use of color and expressionism, which inspired thousands of artists around the world.

           Wassily Kandinsky was born December 16, 1866 in Moscow. He is most known for being a painter and art theorist. Yet, he did not start drawing until the age of 30. During most of his younger years, he was studying law and economics in Moscow. Kandinsky realized that his passion was art and he began to study it. Soon he became a great enough artist to teach at the Bauhaus. From 1922-1932 he instructed the basic art class as well as the advanced color theory for students. His watercolor paintings bring a light and joyful feel to anyone who views them. Almost 100 years later and Kandinsky’s work still looks fresh and new. ­

            Josef Albers was born March 19, 1888 in Germany. Growing up he immediately had an admiration for art. He began printmaking and even working with stained glass in his early years as an artist.  Albers initially enrolled in Bauhaus in 1920, yet he was asked to join the faculty in 1922. When Albers first began working at Bauhaus, he was a professor or “master” of stained glass. Albers was also a crafts master at the school from 1925-1932. He produced many designs at the Bauhaus, from paintings to stained glass to furniture. Though he was a younger art professor at the school, he was highly respected by his works and designs. Once the Bauhaus was shut down, he moved to the United States where he continued his teaching and art career. Josef Albers formed the basis for the most influential art programs in the world, and still left a legacy with his own designs and artwork.  

            Though these artists’ careers were cut short in the Bauhaus, they still left a gift for many generations to come. I know that I personally have been largely influenced by each of these artists in my own work. Each have an amazing way to capture color and emotions in each design. Their names will truly go down in history.

 Flower Myth, Paul Klee 1918

 Senecio, Paul Klee 1922

Red Balloon, Paul Klee 1922

Landscape with Two Poplars, Kandinsky 1912

Composition VIII, Kandinsky 1923

Kandinsky 1918

 Homage to the Square, Josef Albers 1962

Stained Glass, Josef Albers 1913 

Untitled Lithograph, Josef Albers 1942

Homework #8

Kasimir Malevich and Vilmos Huszar

            During the early 1920’s, Russia was facing a civil war. After the Red Army had overthrown Czar Nicholas II, the political trauma had left Russians in an exposed state. Yet rather than allowing the events to hinder their creativity, they used it as a propelling force to create new ideas. This is what sparked the Russian suprematism and constructivism movement. With strong cubism and futurism influence, the movement experimented in typography and designs that went against past art and design. Many of these artists used straightforward pictorial designs that portrayed the Red Army’s version of the political strife. 

            Artist Kasimir Malevich was born February 23, 1879 in the Kiev Governorate of Russian Empire, now known as Ukraine. He grew up among sugar-beet plantations and was the first of fourteen children, though only nine survived to adulthood.  At a young age his interest was art. He would embroider and paint anything he could get his hands on. As he grew up he studied art at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture from 1904 to 1910. His style was closely tied to Russian folk art in early years, yet began to work in “Cubo-Futuristic” styles in 1912.  He soon founded a painting style where basic structures and color dominated his works, which he called suprematism. Malevich created concrete elements in his art with color and shape. Most of his work focused around one visual form and allowed color to fall around it.  When asked to create propaganda art for the revolutionaries, Malevich declined. He believed that art was purely a spiritual activity and should not be apart of the societies needs.  I found myself most drawn to Malevich’s work because of his simplistic and bold designs. Though his paintings were created over a century ago, they still look fresh and modern. I found it amazing that he was able to rise from poverty to prosperity through his art. He truly was an amazing artist that has shaped the way we look at design today. 

Oil on Linen 1915

Oil on Canvas 1915

Oil on Canvas 1916

Oil on Canvas 1915

            The De Stijl movement was launched in 1917 in the Netherlands.  The artists, who worked in the style, used abstract geometric forms in their paintings. The movement itself used the universal laws of balance and harmony in art, in hopes of creating a model for a new social order. Many of the artists during this movement concentrated on purely abstract paintings composed of vertical and horizontal lines. 

         De Stijl artist Vilmos Huszar was born January 5, 1884 in Budapest. He immigrated to The Netherlands in 1905. Interestingly enough, not much is known about his life and even the whereabouts of many of his works are unknown. Many of his paintings and sculptures are only known through the photographs that appeared in De Stijl, or where taken by himself. Vilmos was a co-founder of the De Stijl magazine along with Theo Van Doesburg. He and Van Doesburg played a central figure in establishing the movement. Vilmos focused mainly on painting with an open grid of squares and rectangles. Yet he was more than just a painter, he designed interior color schemes and worked on furniture designs as well. In 1923 he left the De Stijl movement to focus more on his interior designs. Though later in life he concentrated on graphic design and painting.  I find Huszar’s work intriguing because of his basic structures and dynamic designs. Though each have a similar foundation, the designs vary greatly. He truly was an artist that knew how to grab the viewer’s attention, and he helped spark a movement that left its mark in art history. 

Oil on Canvas 1917 

Oil on Canvas 1925

 Oil on Canvas 1926

 Oil on Canvas 1922

Homework #7

Travel Poster Artists

 During the break between World Wars in Europe, graphics began to focus more on the world and its image. These posters became iconic for the time period and was the most enduring trend of the 20th century graphic design. Movements such as cubism, played an important role in these geometric poster’s designs. Travel posters offered a brief freedom from the political turmoil that surrounded society during this time. 

      A. M. Cassandre was an artist who exemplified the ideal travel poster of the time.  Though born in Ukraine, he moved with his family to Paris at a young age. Growing up he studied art and became a full time graphic designer by the age of twenty two. Many of his designs were bold and simple. His works all create a sense of two-dimensionality from the use of broad planes of color. Cassandre was very much inspired by cubism and surrealism. He was also well known for his impressive typography, and designed his own typefaces. His posters offered many a sense of visual freedom from the visual clutter that could be found in many designs during the time.

      Edward McKnight Kauffer, was another travel poster artist of the 1920’s. Kauffer was born in Montana in 1890. During his time at the University of Utah, his professor became aware of his work, and sponsored him and paid to send him to Paris to study. As a result of this, Edward took on his professor’s last name as his own middle name, McKnight. Later in his career, he traveled to London to escape the war. Kauffer became best known for his London Underground and London Transport posters. These posters each had a different style, ranging from abstract influences, futurism, cubism and even impressionist influences like Japanese woodcuts. He was an artist that never allowed a certain movement to restrain his designs.

Cassandre, Kauffer and Cooper were just a few of the countless travel poster artists of the time. I have found that these artists capture my attention the most because of the simplicity and geometry that they used. Each artist had their own individual design style, and had the ability to capture the viewer and allow freedom to surround them with their art. I find that there are not many artists that are capable of this, maybe that is why I appreciate and respect their designs so much

 Cassandre 1927

Cassandre 1931

Cassandre 1930

Kauffer 1924

 Kauffer 1916

Kauffer 1933

Cooper 1928

Cooper 1924

Cooper 1935

Homework #6

Dada

The Dada art movement originally sought out to be anti-art. It began with the carnage of World War I, and the shock and protest that surrounded the war. The Dada writers and artists saw the horrors that the war had brought, and saw a new side of religion and moral codes. These artists thought that if they could reject tradition, they could experience true freedom.

        The movement started off as a literary movement, after poet Hugo Ball. Yet as time progressed, Marcel Duchamp, a French painter, joined and soon Dada spiraled into an art movement. To Duchamp, Dada represented how art and life could be so randomly selected, and he brought this idea of true freedom into his works. To Dadaists, they did not want to create art, but instead mock it. Many felt that society had become too sensitive to art, and life.  There were however, many artistic works that were meaningful and influenced graphic design. Some Dada artists, even created the technique of manipulating photographic images to create something else. Artists like Raoul Hausmann and Hannah Hoch were most known for these works.

          Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, from Germany, was most well known for his nonpolitical offshoot of Dada that he named Merz. These images were collages from printed ephemera and other random materials. Though, he was rejected from the movement since these images were simply nailed together. Schwitters began to focus on typography. One of his most well known works, included typographic forms being depicted as characters. Kurt and many other Dadaists, wanted to use their artistic activities to draw the public’s eye to the political problems during the time. Many hoped their art would promote social change and raise the public's consciousness.

          John Heartfield, was another Berlin Dadaist, that sought to use his art as a propaganda weapon. His main targets were the Weimar Republic and the Nazi party. He would attack their organizations in books, magazines and even posters. Heartfield would work with photographs and manipulate the image in many of his works. Eventually he had to flee Germany, yet he still continued his propaganda from Prague. Heartfield even produced photomontages protesting the Vietnam War.

          Dada was a revolutionary art movement. It began during a time of protest against the destruction of war, and continued past World War I. The movement’s sense of anarchy and freedom brought a new breath to art and writing. Though Dada died off by the end of 1922, artists like Schwitters and Heartfield produced amazing works that still exemplified the movement. ­­­­

Hannah Hoch collage, 1919

John Heartfield collage, 1920

Marcel Duchamp 1917