A GUIDE TO LESTER BEALL
Lester Beall and the A-D Gallery

[Beall, Lester] A-D Gallery: A GUIDE TO LESTER BEALL [November 19 - December 31]. NYC: The Composing Room/A-D Gallery, 1945. First edition. A near-fine exhibition catalogue in stiff, printed wrappers: staples are lightly rusted. Catalogue design by Lester Beall.

5.5 x 8 saddle-stitched exhibition catalogue with 16 pages from the exhibition held at the A-Gallery from November 19 - December 31, 1945. "An exhibition of Beall's drawings, paintings, posters, typographic designs, photographs,packaging, magazine pages, photograms and layouts from 1933 to 1945."

An exceptionally rare piece of ephemera with a blue-chip pedigree. Highly recommended.

Erin Malone writes: In 1936, Dr. Robert Leslie, assisted by Hortense Mendel, began showing the work of emigre and young artists in an empty room in The Composing Room offices. Called the A-D Gallery, it was the first place in New York City dedicated to exhibiting the graphic and typographic arts.

The first exhibit as described by Percy Seitlin: "A young man by the name of Herbert Matter had just arrived in this country from Switzerland with a bagful of ski posters and photgraphs of snow covered mountains. Also came camera portraits and various specimens of his typographic work. We decided to let him hang some of his things on the walls and gave him a party... the result was a crowd of almost bargain-basement dimensions, and thirsty too. Everyone was excited by the audacity and skill of Matter's work."

The A-D gallery was one of the only places in New York city for young artists to come into contact with the work of european emigres and soon became a social meeting place for designers to meet each other, as well as prospective clients and employers. Dr. Leslie knew many people in New York and went out of his way to introduce people to each other. The gallery and the magazine became mirrors of each other. Often a feature in the magazine would become a show and vice-versa.

Educated at Lane Technical School and the University of Chicago, Lester Beall (1903 -1969) was a designer ahead of his time. Primarily self-taught in graphic design, he exemplified a great knowledge and understanding of the European avant-garde. His early work shows the influence of constructivist and Bauhaus energy mixed with his personal sense of control. Beall exhibited a great talent for communicating ideas and elevating the taste and expectations of the corporate client. In 1937, Beall became the first American designer to have a one man show at the Museum of Modern Art, featuring his posters for the Rural Electrification Administration. These posters, his art direction of Scope the house magazine for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals Co., International Paper Co. and Connecticut Life Insurance helped to change the way industry viewed design. In 1992, he received the AIGA medal. His work was a model of the idea that good design could be effective communication and good business.

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