Monday, April 27, 2020

Comics: Raymond K. Perry, Artist


Raymond K. Perry* was born on September 16, 1876, in Sterling, Illinois. The birth information is from his birth certificate, World War I draft card and Social Security application. His birthplace was also recorded on a 1927 passenger list at Ancestry.com. A Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mennonite record said Perry’s parents were George P. Perry and Sophie [sic] Emma Shirk. Perry was the oldest of three children.

Birth certificate courtesy of Todd Klein

Perry’s father; photograph courtesy of Todd Klein

In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census Perry’s family resided in Coloma, Illinois. His father was a drugstore clerk. According to the History of Whiteside County, Illinois (1908), he was “senior partner of the firm of Perry and Perry, druggists …”

Perry’s education was at the schools of Sterling. The Sterling Daily Gazette, December 2, 1895, said

Raymond Perry, the Gazette staff artist, who is pursuing a course of instruction at the Chicago Art Institute, is making very rapid progress there. He has again been promoted and is away ahead of the 160 students in whose class he started a few months ago. His last promotion was up to the “Antique” class. The professors speak very flatteringly of his progress.
The Chicago Tribune, May 4, 1898, reported Perry’s prize at the fourth annual Congress of the Central Art Association, “… A prize of $15 for a cover design for Arts for America, the national organ of the association, was awarded to Raymond Perry of Chicago. The competition is a yearly one, and is entered by art students all over the country.”

Perry’s cover appeared in June according to the Chicago Tribune, June 19, 1898.

Arts for America for June is out with a new cover designed by Raymond Perry. A prize was offered last March for a cover design for this publication. About seventy designs were submitted from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago. Mr. Perry is a student of the Art Academy. The principal motive of his design is the figure of a man holding a globe to which other spheres are bound, furnishing a support for the title and illustrating the sentiment “Art is the directing power of the universe. Through the interpretation of nature it leads to science, industry, culture, and all true education.”
He drew the cover of the May 1899 issue of The Inland Printer, a Chicago publication. The publication also printed two Perry illustrations in its June 1900 issue.




Perry’s work was noted in the Chicago Tribune, October 22, 1899.

A collection of the work of the students of the Art Academy is exhibited in one of the studios of the school at 300 Wabash avenue. It includes none of their school studies, but designs, compositions, out-of-door sketches, and other work in oil, water, pen and ink, and wash. Many of the pupils of the evening classes of the school are engaged in practical designing and illustrating in the daytime and many of the exhibits of these have a distinctly professional character. Among these are drawings of horses by Robert J. Dickey, designs for book covers by Raymond Perry, …
The 1900 census recorded Perry in Chicago where he was a bank clerk. He was a lodger at 291 Michigan Avenue.

In 1901 Perry illustrated the book, Four Old Greeks: Achilles, Herakles, Dionysios, Alkestis.

The 1902 Chicago Central Business Directory listed Perry as an illustrator in the Fine Arts Building. His address in the 1903 directory was 203 Michigan Avenue.

At some point Perry moved to New York City.

The 1905 New York state census listed Perry in Manhattan at 55 West 24th Street.

On August 17, 1907, Perry married Emilia C. Russell in Manhattan according to the New York Dramatic Mirror, August 24, 1907. In the 1910 census their home was at 600 West 127th Street. He was a self-employed artist and she a musician and singer.

Gunter’s Magazine, June 1907, published an illustration by Perry. He did at least two illustrations for Ladies’ World magazine: “The Happy End” in October 1909, and “The Man-Fairy” by L. Frank Baum’s in December 1910. Perry’s art appeared in The Circle, March 1910. For St. Nicholas magazine Perry produced the series, “Nature Giants That Man Has Conquered”, in 1911, from March to June, here, here here and here. Perry’s art was in Smith’s Magazine, September 1914.

Perry was represented in the 1912 Pleiades Club Year Book.

The April 1913 issue of Ladies’ Home Journal had work by Perry. Perry’s “Giant Mechanical Mosquitoes to Conquer Nature!” appeared in several Sunday newspapers including the Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia), April 6, 1913. Perry drew the cover of the New York Sun’s children’s section which featured the Tarryvale Town Tales.



The Christian Science Monitor, May 21, 1913, covered the MacDowell Club exhibition.

After 15 successful exhibitions of pictures during the season, the MacDowell Club of New York is giving a sixteenth for the purpose, as a member explained, of “giving the little pictures a chance.” The plan of this club is to offer its gallery to self-organized groups of painters, each group numbering eight to twelve artists, for exhibition purposes, the exhibitions to last two weeks. In the present case, the pictures being small, it has been possible to accommodate four groups in the gallery and the exhibition it correspondingly interesting. There is great charm to small pictures. …

… The decorative art of Raymond Perry is shown in a number of sketches and drawings …
Perry’s illustration, “Tommy’s Christmas Present”, appeared in the January 3, 1915 Sunday Magazine supplement of many newspapers including the Evening Star and Buffalo Courier.

The 1915 New York City directory said Perry’s studio was at 124 Lexington Avenue. His home in the 1915 New York state census was 159 East 33rd Street. Directories for 1916 and 1917 had the same address.

The American Printer, June 5, 1916, announced the bookplates prizes and said “the third award went to Raymond Perry of New York.”

When Perry signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918, he was a Chicago resident staying at the Hotel Alexandria. Perry was an artist at the Ethridge Company, 220 South State Street.

Perry was the illustrator of the Roll of Honor poster for the National Security League, and “America’s Immortals: Donald M. Call” advertisement for the Victory Liberty Loan Committee.



Perry exhibited in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Thirty-first Annual Exhibition of American Oil Paintings and Sculpture, in 1918.

Perry’s return from service was noted in Printers’ Ink, March 27, 1919.

Ethridge Men Return from the War
The following men have returned to The Ethridge Association of Artists, New York, after having been in the service of their country during the war:

… Raymond Perry, Division Pictorial Publicity.
According to the 1920 census Perry and his wife were Manhattan residents at 159 East 33rd Street. He continued work as a self-employed artist.

Perry drew the cover of Advertising & Selling, January 17, 1920, which said

… Raymond Perry, the artist, who made this design for Advertising & Selling, has an enviable record of achievement. He studied at the Art Institute and Art Academy, Chicago, is a Painter-member of the Salamagundi Club, and has exhibited many times at The Annual Exhibition of American Artists, Society of Chicago Artists and the various New York Galleries. He designed the very beautiful stained glass windows for St. Andrews Church, Pittsburgh, and for the Memorial Library, Hanover, Pa.

Mr. Perry is also a national illustrator of note having long contributed to the more important popular magazines. His unique series for St. Nicholas has been put into book form.

One of the artist’s more recent canvasses was a large oil painting for The American Rolling Mill Company, “The Armco Spirit” was represented in splendid allegory, and Mr. Perry is now in Middletown, as a party to the unveiling of this progressive advertising achievement.

“The Armco Spirit” was featured on the covers of the company magazine, Armco Bulletin.
The Baldwin Piano advertisement, with a drawing by Perry, appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, October 9, 1920.


Printers’ Ink Monthly, January 1921, printed an Ethridge Association of Artists advertisement that mentioned Perry’s project for a steel and iron plant.



Perry had two pieces in the 1921 Society of Independent Artists exhibition.

Perry’s “The Armco Spirit” painting and ten drawings for the American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) were published in the 1922 book, The First Twenty Years: A History of the Growth and Development of the American Rolling Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio, Beginning 1901 and Ending 1922.



Perry was one of the judges of the alumni exhibition as reported in the Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, November 1922.

According to the History of the American Watercolor Society: The First Hundred Years (1969), Perry was a member of the society from 1922 to 1946. Perry was listed in the 1946 catalog.

The New York Times, January 28, 1923, covered Mr. and Mrs. Frank Futterton Brumback’s party where guests “obeyed the invitations and came as tramps and gypsies. … John Sloan was successful with realistic bare toes sticking out from the end of his shoes—or that was the way they looked—but they were really painted on. So were the bare feet of Stuart Davis, who wore his a la Charlie Chaplin. Raymond Perry of the Salmagundi Club was artistically arrayed in a two days’ growth of black beard, which slipped on and off at will. …”
The New York Times, April 15, 1923, review of an exhibition at the Salmagundi Club said “There is firmness to the reserved arrangement of Raymond Perry’s ‘President Grant.’”The Art Institute of Chicago’s Fourth International Water Color Exhibition of 1924 including two world by Perry: “Vulcan at Twilight” and “Furnaces at Cambria Works”.

The 1925 New York state census counted Perry and his wife as residents of Brookhaven, New York, on South Country Road.

Brooklyn Life, July 25, 1925, said Perry was an exhibitor at the Associated Artists of Long Island second annual art show.

Perry and his wives were mentioned in at least 106 issues of the Patchogue Advance newspaper, from 1927 to 1960, mostly about his art and their second home.

Perry’s assignment in Europe was covered in the New York Post, April 13, 1927.

Raymond Perry, an artist with the Ethridge Company, sails today to visit fifteen Italian cities on behalf of one of the company’s client, who is seeking a series of first-hand pen drawings Of certain architectural landmarks in Benito Mussolini’s reborn empire. Mr. Perry will make the drawings on tour, sending them back several at a time. From Italy he will go through the chateau country of France, thence to Paris and London, where he will make a study for the company of England’s poster mediums.
A few months later Perry and his wife returned from their European visit. Perry arrived first on June 13, followed by his wife on August 31.

Passport pages courtesy of Todd Klein

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 14, 1927, noted the purchase of land for Perry: “… a 100 foot plot on the Merrick rd. at Brookhaven to G. Pockriss for Raymond Perry of Manhattan, …”

Perry illustrated the 1929 book, “Manna-Hatin” The Story of New York.

The couple were back at their rental home, 159 East 34 Street, in the 1930 census.
The Patchogue Advance, May 29, 1931, said Perry will give art instruction.

Raymond K. Perry of New York and Brookhaven, an artist of well established reputation, will take pupils at his cottage in Brookhaven this summer, is of much interest to students of the schools in this section who may want to specialize in that line during the summer, and adults as well. Mr. Perry is a painter who has done some very beautiful work in oils and water colors, but who has specialized in applied art and is familiar with the processes of preparing paintings or drawings for the varied needs of publishers and those who make commercial use of art material. He emphasizes a memory drawing method to facilitate the practical application of art work. One of his more recent outstanding products was the numerous set of pictures and ornaments for the New York historical book “Man-a-Hattin”, issued by the Bank of Manhattan Company.

 Patchogue Advance, May 26, 1931

Patchogue Advance, June 2, 1931

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Perry’s career in comics began in 1935. He was hired by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Many of his credits are at the Grand Comics Database. Jerry Robinson was interviewed by Jim Amash in Alter Ego #39, August 2004, and recalled Perry at DC.
… One other guy I should mention who should be remembered—and was a wonderful man—was Raymond Perry, though I just called him “Mr. Perry.” He was the colorist who worked in the bullpen. He was a fine, old illustrator; a white-haired man that I really looked up to. I felt terrible that someone of his age and illustrious past should be reduced to coloring comics. His desk was very close to mine.

There was a time when I shared an apartment with Mort Meskin and Bernie Klein on 33rd Street, off Third Avenue, and Mr. Perry’s apartment was on 34th Street, off Lexington Avenue, just a block away. Occasionally, I’d walk home with him. I remember one time he gave me a couple of his research books of costumes. He wanted to make sure I was authentic in my research, and at times I’d work closely with him on my “Batman” stories when they were colored. I did color a couple of my stories and some of my covers. When I didn’t color the covers, I worked with Mr. Perry on them. An he didn’t mind that at all. He was very pleased and helpful. …
The New York Times, February 4, 1934, reviewed the exhibition of work by Brooklyn and Long Island artists at the Brooklyn Museum and said “Among the paintings that might be singled out are … Raymond K. Perry’s ‘New Cycle’ represents a golden-winged, auburn-haired spirit ascending from the corpse of an aged woman. …”

The Schenectady Gazette (New York), July 6, 1935, mentioned the paintings hanging in the lobby of the Hotel Van Curier and said

Raymond Perry, master of classical Illustrations, widely-known in New York, has painted a colorful picture of Mrs. Coburn as Mistress Ford, the leading role in Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor,” … Mr. Perry, a water-colorist, has been employed as an illustrator for many advertising companies because of his fine representation of classical subjects. Many portraits of distinguished persons have been executed by Perry’s brush.
The New York Post, January 23, 1937, described Perry’s lecture.
A retentive mind is one of the most valuable assets a designer or artist can possess, whether he or she is attending an opening, the horse show, or the opera, having luncheon at the Plaza or studying the windows on Fifth Avenue, or Fifty-seventh Street. If the designer has the faculty for remembering not only the costumes as a whole but the important details, such as a neckline or belt, then assuredly he or she will be among the most successful.

These are the views of Raymond Perry, who explained methods of memory drawing in a lecture recently at the Traphagen School of Fashion, 1680 Broadway. Mr. Perry is a member of the Salmagundi Club of New York City, the New York Water Color Club, and the American Water Color Society. His work can be seen in many famous institutions and buildings about the country, such as the Memorial Library in Hanover, Pa., St. Andrews Church in Pittsburgh, [illegible], the Seventh Regiment Armory, Shimer Junior College in Mt. Carol, Ill., and in private collections.
Water-colour Painting of To-day (1937) had this assessment of Perry’s “Vulcan at Twilight”.
It was Whistler and his friend Joseph Pennell who first helped us to see beauty in chimney stacks. Since then many artists have tried their hands at them. Raymond Perry, American painter, gives us this strong impression of a huge industrial plant somewhere in the United States. The artist has successfully conveyed the idea of a smoke pall in the atmosphere. The bridge and river help to make an interesting composition.
Perry illustrated the 1940 book, A Handbook of Company K Seventh Regiment (107th Infantry, N.Y.N.G.).

Perry has not yet been found in the 1940 census. New York City directories from 1943 to 1960, had Perry’s address as 145 East 45th Street.

The Patchogue Advance, February 1, 1945, reported the passing of Perry’s wife.

Death Comes at Concert To Mrs. Raymond Perry
Mrs. Emilie Russell Perry, wife of Raymond Perry, of Brookhaven and New York, died in Carnegie hall, New York, on Friday, being stricken just after arriving at her seat for a symphony concert at 2:30 p. m. She was 71 years old. Her husband, well known as an artist, is production manager of Superman, Inc., in New York.

Mrs. Perry was born in Carrollton, Ill., and attended private schools in Washington. She was a voice pupil of the late Mme. Schoen-Rene and was formerly active in musical circles. She was a member of the American Red Cross during the First World War and in the present war had been active in a number of war and welfare groups, including organizations in Brookhaven.

A talented musician, she had long been prevented from public appearances by ill health.

Besides her husband she leaves two sisters, Miss Caroline Elizabeth Russell of Verona , N. J., and Mrs. Clinton Peters of Newtown, Conn. She lived at 145 East Thirty-fourth street in New York, and on South Country road, Brookhaven, in the old Corwin cottage. Her parents were the late Charles Elmer Russell and Caroline Elizabeth Price.
The New York, New York, Marriage License Index, at Ancestry.com, said Perry and Louise M. Wilde obtained a license on December 20, 1945 in Manhattan.

The 1946 Annual Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society catalog had this listing: “Raymond Perry 145 East 34th Street, N. Y. C.”

Perry passed away on November 16, 1960, in New York City. The New York Times published an obituary the following day.

Raymond Perry Dead
Art Editor of Comic Books Designed Church Windows
Raymond Perry, art editor of comic books, painter, designer and book illustrator, died Tuesday night in Dresden Madison Nursing Home at 36 East Sixty-seventh Street. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Perry, who formerly lived at 145 East Thirty-fourth Street, had been art editor of the National Comics Publications, Inc., of 575 Lexington Avenue, for the last twenty years. He also had designed windows for Churches and libraries in Pennsylvania. Portraits by him are in the Seventh Regiment Armory and Fraunces Tavern in New York, and the Poe Cottage in Philadelphia.

He was born in Sterling, Ill., and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York Academy of Fine Arts. Mr. Perry was a member of the Salmagundi Club and American Water-color Society.
On November 24, 1960, the Patchogue Advance printed an obituary.
Raymond Perry Taken by Death at the Age of 84
A number of readers noted the death at 84 last Wednesday of Raymond perry, art editor of comic books, painter, designer and book illustrator. He died at the Dresden-Madison Nursing Home, 36 East Sixty-Seventh Street, New York City after a long illness. His hime was at 145 East Thirty-Fourth Street. Funeral services were held Friday at the Universal Chapel, Lexington Avenue and Fifty-Second Street.

Mr. Perry is of particular interest to residents of this area because he and his first wife, Emily, one of the Russell sisters who summered in Brookhaven, lived for many years in the house later bought and still owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Carl Olson of South Country Road.

Mr. Perry had been art editor of National Comics Publications, Inc., of 575 Lexington Avenue, for the last 20 years. He also had designed windows for churches, such as those in St. Andrew’s Church, Pittsburgh, and for libraries in Pennsylvania. Portraits by him are in the Seventh Regiment Armory and Fraunces Tavern in New York City and the Poe Cottage in Philadelphia.

He was born in Sterling, Ill., and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York Academy of Fine Arts. Mr. Perry was a member of the Salmagundi Club, American Water Color Society and Montclair Art Museum.

Surviving are his widow, the former Mary MacLennan; a daughter, Miss Nancy Farrell; and a brother, Dr. William Perry of Sacramento, Calif.
At askART.com is a note from Perry’s nephew, Daniel Aument.
Uncle Ray was born in Sterling Illinois. In the teens, 20s and 30s, he worked as an illustrator, creating art work for advertising and also illustrations to accompany short stories published in magazines. In the 40s and 50s he worked for National Publications, the creator and publisher of the Superman comics, as their colorist, and I suspect wrote stories and did lettering and some artwork.
The Hackensack Record (New Jersey), September 8, 1975, reported the passing of Perry’s second wife.
Perry, Louise M. Wilde, of Verona, N. J., on September 6, 1975. Beloved wife of the late Raymond Perry and mother of Robert W. and Stewart W. Wild, Beatrice W. Logan and Louise Moor Van Vleck. Also survived by eight grandchildren. Funeral services at Grace Episcopal Church, Rutherford, Tuesday [?] P. M. Cremation private. Friends may be received at the John C. Collins Funeral Home, 19 Lincoln Ave. Rutherford, Monday 7 to 9 P. M.

Further Reading and Viewing
The Last Superman Standing: The Al Plastino Story (2016)
brief profile of Perry who painted a portrait of Plastino

Middletown: The Steel City (2000)

Armco Spirit, a painting by Raymond Perry, expresses that indefinable “something” about old Armco. On a huge canvas, the artist's brush created a strong figure of the quintessential happy, self-reliant steel worker. He was, in reality, a composite of 12 men, each from a different department at Armco, and each caught in a photograph from which Perry took certain features. In the background stands the giant steel mill with smoke rising from its stacks. … Armco President, George M. Verity, commissioned the painting, which was unveiled January 9, 1920.
The Hamlet People Database
Brookhaven/South Haven Hamlets & Their People


Todd’s Blog
The DC Comics Offices 1930s-1950s Part 4; photographs of Perry

Raymond Perry at DC Comics
Raymond Perry at DC Comics, New Info and Photos


*  Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 has Perry’s middle initial as W and the birth year 1883, both are incorrect. There was an artist and educator named Raymond Wilson Perry who was born in 1883. According to The New York Times, October 29, 1948, he passed away on October 28.


(Updated May 18, 2023; Next post on Monday: ACBA News #15)

Monday, April 20, 2020

Creator: Alexey Brodovitch


Alexey Brodovitch was born on April 30, 1894, in Ogolitchy, Russia, according to his naturalization records and World War II draft card. The same birth date is at the Social Security Death Index
















SELECTED INFORMATION FROM ANCESTRY, ABEBOOKS, EBAY AND NEWSPAPERS


1920s

Le Râmâyana Traduit du Sanscrit
Franz Toussaint
Briffaut, 1927
ornaments by Brodovitch


La Sultane de L’Amour
Franz Youssaint
Andre Delpeuch, 1927
frontispiece and illustrations by Brodovitch


Monsieur de Bougrelon
Jean Lorrain
Henri Jonquières, 1928
illustrated by Brodovitch

Nouvelles
Pouchkine
Editions de la Pléiade, 1928
ornaments by Brodovitch

A Brief History of Moscovia and Other Less-known Countries 

Lying Eastward of Russia as Far as Cathay
John Milton
Blackamore Press, 1929

chapter heading by Brodovitch

Contes Fantastiques
Fedor Dostoievsky
Edition de la Pléiade, 1929
illustrated by Brodovitch


Arts et Metiers Graphiques
No. 11, 1929
illustration by Brodovitch

Arts et Metiers Graphiques
No. 14, 1929
cover by Brodovitch



1930

Arts et Metiers Graphiques
No. 18, 1930
illustrated Brodovitch article by Philippe Soupault

Aux Trois Quartiers
December 1930?
cover by Brodovitch


New York Passenger List
Names: Alexis Brodovitch, 36, commercial artist; Nina, 33, wife; Nikita, 6, son; Anna Dotzmanoff, 61, nurse
Languages Spoken: English, French, Russian
Port of Departure: Antwerp, Belgium
Departure Date: August 23, 1930
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: August 31, 1930
Vessel: S.S. Lapland
Destination: John Jenks, Chestnut Hill at Seminal Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

1931

Tenth Annual of Advertising Art 1931
Art Directors Club

work by Brodovitch

Themes Décoratifs Modernes dans L’affiche, le Reliure, et la Textile
Albert Morancé, 1931
poster design by Brodovitch
 


Advertising Arts
March 1931
supplement cover by Brodovitch

Philadelphia Inquirer
(Pennsylvania)
March 8, 1931

Activities of Week in Women’s Clubs
Thursday
Lantern and Lens Guild, informal talk and criticism of Guild Prints by Alexey Brodovitch, 8 P. M.

1932


Philadelphia Inquirer
March 13, 1932
Sketch Club’s Show
Amid the generous array of excellent work in black and white now to be seen at the Sketch Club, in South Camac street, there is found evidence of an entirely new artistic enterprise, which should proceed to great heights, providing those who presume to have the welfare of our, souls as their guiding consideration do not indulge in further legal repressions. …

… The small modernist drawings by Alexey Brodovitch at once catch the eye with their striking patterns …
New York Evening Post
April 23, 1932

Advertising Art Exhibited Today
Art Directors Club Displays Work of Commercial Designers
Prizes Awarded to Eight
The Art Directors Club today opened its eleventh annual exhibition of advertising art at the Art Center, 6S Bast Fifty-sixth Street, where numerous examples of the work of commercial artists, including eight exhibits which have been awarded prizes in various classes, will remain on view until May 14. The exhibition will be open to the public daily except Sundays from 10 A. M. to S P. M. and on Thursdays until 9 P. M. …

… In the poster class the Art Directors bestowed a medal on Alexey Brodovitch for his poster for the Pennsylvania Museum or Art, while the Barron Collier medal was awarded to Fred Ludekins for his poster for the American Legion, handled by Campbell Ewald Company. …
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
(New York)
May 1, 1932

Art Directors and New York Water Color Club’ Annuals Reflect Artistic Trends
Tomorrow’s Americana
Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art as Cross Section of Contemporary Taste Offers Suggestions to Astute Collector
… Sometimes this stylization of trend in the fine arts is carried too far in the effort to be ultra and so draw attention to itself and not to the thing it is selling. The cubistic and surealistic motives used in several instances in the present show result in bad advertising and an inept design. The jury of award I notice, held a different opinion, since they awarded a first medal to Alexey Brodovitch for his machine age design used to advertise the recent Industrial Arts Exhibition at the Pennsylvania Museum.
New York Sun
April 11, 1933

Art Medal Awarded
Advertising Illustrations Are on Display Here.
Seven bronze medals were awarded for work displayed in the exhibition of, advertising art, which opened today at the Art Center, 65 East Fifty-sixth street, under the auspices of the Art Directors Club. Six exhibitors received honorable mention.

In the group of paintings and drawings in color Carl Erickson received an award for a canvas and Alexey Brodovitch one for a drawing. Urban Weiss won honorable mention in this group.

In the display of poster, car card, magazine cover and book jacket Howard Trafton won a medal, while John Zwinakavitch and Mr. Brodovitch received honorable mention. …
Eleventh Annual of Advertising Art
Art Directors Club, 1932
work by Brodovitch


Indianapolis Times
(Indiana)
June 17, 1932

Designs for jackets of three books which Lippincott will publish in the early autumn have been made by Alexey Brodovitch, youthful Russian who is already famous as one of the leading poster artists of France. In 1925 at the Exhibition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. Mr. Brodovitch won highest honors; the Grand Prix for textile design and embroidery, the Grand Prix for jewelry and silverware design, two silver medals and honors for architecture. The three jackets are for “High Low Washington” by 30 32; “The Perils and Fortune of the Duke of Osuna,” by Antonio Marichalar, and “Fuller’s Earth,” by Carolyn Wells.
Fuller’s Earth
Carolyn Wells
J.B. Lippincott Company, 1932
dust jacket by Brodovitch

High Low Washington
30 • 32
J. B. Lippincott Company, 1932
dust jacket by Brodovitch

The Perils and Fortune of the Duke of Osuna
Antonio Marichalar
J. B. Lippincott Company, 1932
dust jacket by Brodovitch



1933

Advertising Arts
July 1933
poster by Brodovitch, “The House of the Future”

New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 39, professor; Nina, 37, wife; Nikita, 9, son
Port of Departure: Le Havre, France
Departure Date: September 13, 1933
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: September 19, 1933
Vessel: S.S. Ile de France
Previous U.S. Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 2, 1930 to July 28, 1933
Destination: 266 South Van Pelt Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Philadelphia Inquirer
September 24, 1933

Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art advertisement
Advertising Design
Mr. Alexey Brodovitch, whose work in advertising design has been highly praised by disinterested critics, will give personal assistance to every student in this course.

































1934

New York Sun
April 12, 1934

Advertising News
Advertising Art Exhibition.

Most beautiful and most popular girls and men and prettiest baby and best looking child, among models whose faces and figures adorn American advertising art, will receive laurel wreaths at the opening of the Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art Friday night.

The exhibition of several hundred paintings, drawings and photographs executed between January 1, 1933. and March 1, 1934, will be open and free to the public on the thirty-fourth floor of RCA building, Rockefeller Center, from Saturday until May 12.

To Crown Models.

Winning models are being determined by the exhibition committee of the Art Directors Club, exhibition sponsor: Charles T. Coiner, N. W. Aver & Son chairman; William T. Fink, Newell-Emmett Company, vice- hairman; Elwood Whitney, J. Walter Thompson Company; Claude H. Muller, McCann-Erickson, Inc.; Gene Davis, Young & Rubicam; Thomas Erwin; Dr. M. F. Agha, Conde Nast Publications, and Alexey Brodovitch, painter. Gordon A. Meyer, president of the club, will present the laurels tomorrow night. All winners and runners-up, save the babies, will be
present.

Casting off superstition, the club, organized thirteen years ago, is starting its thirteenth exhibition on Friday the 13th.
Thirteenth Annual of Advertising Art
Art Directors Club, 1934
work by Brodovitch


Advertising Arts
May 1934
Prize Winners at 13th Annual Art Directors Exhibition includes: Alexey Brodovitch, Ludwig Bemelmans, John Funk, John Atherton, Boris Artzybasheff, Miguel Covarrubias, Robert Fawcett, Victor Keppler and others.
Philadelphia Inquirer
July 8, 1934

Local Artists Show Oils and Water Colors
For a showing through July the Boyer Galleries, Pennsylvania boulevard, have assembled a group of oils and water colors by contemporary Philadelphia artists. Max Bernd-Cohen is represented by one of his strong studies, “Apple Trees”, and Edward Biberman by his exotic and decorative “The Wave”. “Negro Wreckers”, by George Biddle, and “Still Life Interior”, by Hugh Breckenridge, are excellent examples of the work of these modern masters, and Alexey Brodovitch contributes a highly symbolic “Industrial Landscape”. …
New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 40, professor; Nina, 38, housewife; Nikita, 9, son
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: August 25, 1934
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: August 31, 1934
Vessel: S.S. Berengaria
Previous U.S. Residence: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1930 to July 1934
Destination: 266 South Van Pelt Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Philadelphia Inquirer
August 30, 1934

Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art advertisement
Art in Industry
Faculty distinguished as winners of national and international awards and as experienced teachers of proven merit, are, in addition, active practitioners in their respective fields and know intimately present application of art to industrial problems and its probable future trends; such as Alexey Brodovitch, J. Frank Copeland, Mabel B. Hall, Earl Horter, Oscar Mertz, Thornton Oakley, Hilda L. Orth, Henry Pitz, Althea Lilian Rickert, Gertrude Schell, Mary B. Sweeney, Franklin C. Watkins.
































1935

Fourteenth Annual of Advertising Art
Art Directors Club, 1935
work by Brodovitch


Brooklyn Daily Eagle
April 10, 1935

Advertising Art Will Hold Annual Exhibit at Macy’s
Announcement of eight juries of award for the Fourteenth Annual Exhibition of Advertising Art, sponsored by the Art Directors Club, and tone held in the Seventh Avenue Gallery at R.H. Macy & Co., April 19 to May 11, was made yesterday by William E. Fink, chairman of the exhibition committee. Mr. Fink’s committee includes Alexey Brodovitch, vie chairman; Elwood Whitney, Gene Davis, Byron Musser, Loren Stone, Walter Van Leyen, Leslie Beaton, A. Halpert and Egmont H. Arens. Rise Heyman is the exhibition secretary. …
3 Poems
Tom Maloney
William Morrow & Company, 1935
illustrated by Brodovitch


New York Passenger List
Name: Alexey Brodovitch, 41, professor
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: June 19, 1935
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: June 25, 1935
Vessel: S.S. Aquitania
Previous U.S. Residence: 1930 to 1935
Destination: 239 East 72nd Street, New York, New York

 

1936

Fifteenth Annual of Advertising Art
Art Directors Club, 1936
work by Brodovitch

U.S. Camera 1936
T.J. Maloney
William Morrow & Company, 1936
cover design by Brodovitch


Philadelphia Inquirer
May 3, 1936

Thirteen new creations in oil, water color, sculpture and drawing have just been added to the semi-permanent exhibition in the Gimbel Galleries of Contemporary Art. As is customary, the works are
all by those who live in, or near, Philadelphia. The oils comprise Walter Reinsel’s “By the Sea;” Alexey Brodovitch’s distinctive still-life of a framed picture, within its own frame; Charles Williams’s “Night Club Brawl,” a conglomerate of figures at a somewhat vulgar merrymaking; Abraham Rattner’s quaint “Shop Window;” Phillip Jenney’s study of suicide by gas, known as “Solitude;” Lucius Crowell’s “Nude,” with its charming half- gold, half-red background, and Leon Karp’s “Homework.” …
New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 42, professor; Nina, 40, housewife; Nikita, 11, student
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: June 24, 1936
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: June 30, 1936
Vessel: S.S. Berengaria
Previous U.S. Residence: 1930 to 1936
Destination: 239 East 72nd Street, New York, New York


New York Sun
October 3, 1936

‘New Sources of Fine Art’
Private Work of Commercial Artists at Seligmann’s.
Feeling that the American commercial artist has not had his due and has been too often brushed aside as a mere clever artisan without a touch of the creative faculty, the management of the Jacques Seligmann Gallery, 3 East Fifty-first street, has got together an exhibition of the work of a number of graphic artists that will likely prove something of a surprise to many.

The exhibition was planned by a committee which included Dr. M. A. Agha, Gordon Aymer, Rene Clarke, Robert M. Levy, Leon Loeb, Joseph Platt, George Sakier and Elwood Whitney. The work chosen is that done by the artists on their own, when they were concerned only with self-expression and not hampered by the ideas of clients or other outside considerations. Thus revealed, the score of artists represented prove decidedly “advanced.” … Several of the exhibitors appear to have leaned rather heavily on European models. Alexey Brodovitch seems to have borrowed some of Miro’s properties for his “Purple Haze,” …

1937


Daily Worker
(New York)
March 18, 1937

Show Best Posters In A.S.U.Contest
A public exhibit of the designs entered in the Bill of Rights Poster Contest, sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, is being held at the New School for Social Research. It will continue until Friday.

The contest for a poster illustrating the significance of the Bill of Rights commemorates the 150th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution. More than fifty striking designs have been entered by artists from various parts of the country. Winning posters will be reproduced by the American Civil Liberties Union for use in schools, forums, meetings and educational work.

Judges in the contest are John Sloan, Rollin Kirby, Peggy Bacon, Arthur Frank, Walter Pach, Alexey Brodovitch and Leslie Gill. In addition to one vote for each of the judges, two votes will be credited to the preference of the public visiting the exhibit. The exhibition room will be open from 10 A. M. to 10 P. M.

In announcing the competition, which closes on March 15, the Union declared: “Whatever political differences exist about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as finally written into it, assumes daily greater importance. The preservation of civil rights in a world threatened by growing dictatorships is inseparable from the survival of democracy itself.”
New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 43, art director; Nina, 41, housewife; Nikita, 12, student
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: June 8, 1937
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: June 15, 1937
Vessel: S.S. Berengaria
Previous U.S. Residence: 1930 to 1937
Destination: 239 East 72nd Street, New York, New York

 

1938

Fashion Is Spinach
Elizabeth Hawes
Random House, 1938
illustrated by Brodovitch


New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 44, director/professor; Nina, 42, housewife; Nikita, 13, student
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: June 15, 1938
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: June 20, 1938
Vessel: S.S. Queen Mary
Previous U.S. Residence: 1930 to 1938
Destination: 239 East 72nd Street, New York, New York


Circular of the Art Department 1938–1939
Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art
 

Brodovitch’s ten talks on “Evolution in Industrial Arts”

 

1939

New York Passenger List
Names: Alexey Brodovitch, 45, professor advertising; Nina, 43, housewife; Nikita, 14, student
Port of Departure: Cherbourg, France
Departure Date: July 8, 1939
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Arrival Date: July 14, 1939
Vessel: S.S. Aquitania
Previous U.S. Residence: 1930 to 1939
Destination: 304 East 66th Street, New York, New York


New York Sun
July 17, 1939

Cooper Union Names Art Advisers
Eight new members have been appointed to the advisory council of the Arts Schools of Cooper Union, Guy Gaylor Clark, art director of the union, announced today. They will aid in developing an educational policy which meets the needs of working artists.

The eight are Gilford Baal, painter; Donald M. Oenslager, associate professor in the department of drama of Yale University; Georg John Lober, sculptor and director of the department of sculpture of the Grand Central School of Arts; Nathaniel J. Pousette-Dart, art editor; Frederick J. Kiesler, associate in architecture at Columbia University; Alexey Brodovitch, art editor of the Hearst publications; Lurelle V. A. Guild, industrial designer, and Mrs. Philip J. Roosevelt.

1940

United States Federal Census
Address: 304 East 66th Street, New York, New York
Name / Age / Occupation
Alexey Brodovitch, 44, art director (magazine)
Nina Brodovitch, 42, housewife
Nikita Brodovitch, 15

 

1941

Nineteenth Annual of Advertising Art
Longmans Green & Company, 1941
work by Brodovitch



1942

World War II Draft Card
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Residence Place: New York, New York
Address: 58 West 57th Street
Employer: Harper’s Bazar
Signature: April 27, 1942


Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 14 E 62 REgent 7-3526

 

1943

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 14 E 62 REgent 7-3526

 

1944

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 14 E 62 REgent 7-3526

 

1945

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 14 E 62 REgent 7-3526


Ballet
Alexey Brodovitch
J.J. Augustin, 1945

Day of Paris
Andre Kertesz
J.J. Augustin, 1945

dust jacket design by Brodovitch

Egypt
George Hoyningen-Huene
Text by George Steindorff
J.J. Augustin, 1945
dust design by Brodovitch


Popular Photography
September 1945
five-page article on the Brodovitch book, Ballet


1946

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 315 E 57 PLaza 9-6908


Hellas: A Tribute to Classical Greece
George Hoyningen-Huene, George Davis and Hugh Chisholm
J.J. Augustin Publishers, 1946

dust jacket by Brodovitch

Interiors
August 1946
Alexey Brodovitch vs. Bernard Rudofsky



1947

Paris 
Fritz Henle, Elliot Paul and Alexey Brodovitch
Ziff Davis Publishing, 1947

book design by Brodovitch

Twenty-Sixth Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art
Watson-Guptill, 1947
work by Brodovitch



1949

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 315 E 57 PLaza 9-6908

 

1950

Portfolio
 #1, 1950

Portfolio
#2, 1950



1951

30th Annual of Advertising and Editorial ArtNew York Art Directors Club, 1951
248, 249, 251, 311 by Brodovitch




 































Nudes by Munkacsi
Martin Munkacsi
Greenberg, 1951

dust jacket design by Brodovitch

Portfolio
#3, 1951



1952

New York Post
February 7, 1952

New School Plans Six Photo Courses
The New School for Social Research, 66 W. 12th St„ will sponsor six photography courses by well-known authorities for the spring term beginning the first week in February. …

… Alexey Brodovitch offers a 12-week workshop meeting Wednesdays at the Radkai Studio, 139 E. 69th St. This is concerned with photo-reportage, photo-story, fashion photography, photo illustration, experimental photography. …
New York Post
March 23, 1952

Photography
Thursday: Village Camera Club, 65 Bank St., 8:30 p.m. Lecture on photojournalism by Alexey Brodovitch, who has had no experience in this field, he being art director of the lifted-pinkie monthly, Harpers Bazaar. To the general public this may
seem strange, but most photographers have become reconciled to the fact that on the camera club circuit it is not at all uncommon for a speaker to choose the subject about which he knows least.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle 
March 26, 1952
Camera Clubs
The Village Camera Club, 65 Bank St., Manhattan, will gave Mabel Scacheri judge its black-and-white competition at its meeting Tuesday evening. Tomorrow night, Alexey Brodovitch will hold an informal discussion on “Photo Journalism.” Guests are invited to both meetings.

1953

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 315 E 57 PLaza 9-6908

 

1954

Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art and Design 33
Farrar, Straus & Young/Art Directors Club, 1954
work by Brodovitch

C Editorial Art: 10, 12, 13, 14, 25, 36, 45, 46, 48
E Editorial Design: 23, 27, 30, 31







 





























1955

The Complete Airbrush Book 
William Penn Publishing Corp., 1955
art by Brodovitch

Sun and Shadow: The Philosophy of an Architect
Marcel Breuer
Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1955

cover and book design by Brodovitch

Philadelphia Inquirer
August 10, 1955

Real Estate News
Sale of “Bryn Coed Farm,” home of the late Justice Owen J. Roberts in Kimberton, Chester county, was announced yesterday by J. M. Fronefield, Wayne realtor.

Purchasers were Mr. and Mrs. Edward Law, of “Brookmeade Farm,” Devon, who recently sold their 170-acre farm adjoining Valley Forge Park for a residential development. They also purchased the 113-acre Alexey Brodovitch property adjoining “Bryn Coed.” …
New York Post
September 8, 1955

New School Offering 3 Photography Courses
Workshop courses in photography by Alexey Brodovitch, Bernice Abbott and Joseph Breitenbach start at the New School for Social Research, 66 W. 12th St., on Sept. 27. Registration now open.

Mr. Brodovitch will cover photo-reportage, picture stories, photo-illustration, fashion photography, still life, experimental photography, and photo-editing on 15 Wednesday evenings. …

1958

37th Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art and Design
Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1958
383, 384, 385, 386, 389, 392, 401 by Brodovitch


1959

Manhattan, New York, City Directory
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Street address: 315 E 57 PLaza 9-6908


Observations
Richard Avedon, Truman Capote
Simon & Schuster, 1959
book design by Brodovitch



1960

Art in America
No. 3, 1960
The Precisionists

Saloon Society: The Diary of a Year Beyond Aspirin
William H. Manville
Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1960
book design by Brodovitch



1961

Sag Harbor Express
(New York)
March 9, 1961

Alexey Brodovitch to P Matthiessen, pcl s s Bridge Lane, Sagaponack, $35,000.
East Hampton Star
(New York)
April 13, 1961

Sag Harbor
The Alexey Brodovitch property on Bridge Lane in Sagaponack has been sold to Peter Matthiessen of Amagansett.
American Artist
December 1961
“Remarkable Alexey Brodovitch” by Eugene M Ettenberg



1962
 
The World of Carmel Snow
Carmel Snow with Mary Louise Aswell
McGraw-Hill, 1962
designed by Brodovitch

 

1964

The Doctor and the Devils
Dylan Thomas
Time, Inc., 1964
wraparound cover art by Brodovitch



1971

Social Security Death Index
Name: Alexey Brodovitch
Birth Date: April 30, 1894
Issue year: Before 1951
Issue State: New York
Last Residence: Europe
Death Date: April 1971
 


1972

Alexey Brodovitch and His Influence
Philadelphia College of Art, 1972

51st Annual of Advertising, Editorial and Television Art and Design
Watson-Guptill/Art Directors Club, 1972

Brodovitch profile


1989

Brodovitch
Andy Grundberg
Harry N. Abrams, 1989


Astonish Me! 
A Symposium:
The Impact of Alexey Brodovitch
November 6, 1989
Fashion Institute of Technology
New York City


































2002

Alexey Brodovitch
Kerry William Purcell
Phaidon, 2002



FURTHER READING 

AIGA
Art Directors Club 

Art Institute of Chicago: Irving Penn Archives
Bazaar: Alexey Brodovitch: 1934-1958
Design Is History
Famous Graphic Designers
Find a Grave

Modernism 101 
MoMA 

The New York Times, April 24, 1971
National Gallery of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Wikipedia



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(Next post on Monday: Raymond K. Perry, Artist)