ALVIN LUSTIG: AN EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK
October 11 - December 2, 1949

Alvin Lustig, Dr. Robert Leslie and Hortense Mendel

Dr. Robert Leslie and Hortense Mendel: ALVIN LUSTIG: AN EXHIBITION OF HIS WORK [October 11 - December 2]. New York: The Composing Room/A-D Gallery, 1949. First edition. A near-fine exhibition catalogue in self printed wrappers: light wear along spine edge. Interior unmarked and very clean. Rare.

5.5 x 8 saddle-stitched exhibition catalogue with 16 pages from the exhibition held at the A-Gallery from October 11 - December 2, 1949. Finely-produced keepsake with examples of Lustig's design work in the fields of textiles, book jackets, advertising, interiors, magazine covers, retail and residential architecture, industrial design, trademarks and fine arts. 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. "By the time he died at the age of forty in 1955, [Lustig] had already introduced principles of Modern art to graphic design that have had a long-term influence on contemporary practice. 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. He was a generalist, and yet in the specific media in which he excelled he established standards that are viable today.

"Lustig created monuments of ingenuity and objects of aesthetic pleasure. Whereas graphic design history is replete with artifacts that define certain disciplines and are also works of art, for a design to be so considered it must overcome the vicissitudes of fashion and be accepted as an integral part of the visual language." -- Steven Heller

Spreads from this volume can be viewed here.

Price: $600.00
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