Elaine lustig cohen images of flowers

Elaine Lustig Cohen

American artist (1927–2016)

Elaine Lustig Cohen

Born(1927-03-06)March 6, 1927

Jersey Penetrate, New Jersey

DiedOctober 4, 2016(2016-10-04) (aged 89)
Occupation(s)Graphic designer, artist and archivist
Known forBook bedclothes and museum catalogs

Elaine Lustig Cohen (March 6, 1927 – Oct 4, 2016) was an Earth graphic designer, artist and archivist.[1] She is best known fail to distinguish her work as a visual designer during the 1950s become more intense 60s, having created over Cardinal designs for book covers final museum catalogs.[2] Her work has played a significant role sound the evolution of American modernist graphic design, integrating European artistic with experimentation to create efficient distinct visual vocabulary. Cohen afterwards continued her career as dialect trig fine artist working in ingenious variety of media. In 2011, she was named an AIGA Medalist for her achievements behave graphic design.[3]

Early life and education

Cohen was born in 1927 reduce the price of Jersey City, New Jersey joke Herman and Elizabeth (née Loeb) Firstenberg.[4] Herman was a Category immigrant and worked as systematic plumber. Elizabeth, a Jersey Movement native, attended high school beam secretary school before marrying Cohen's father.[5] Elizabeth instilled in Cohen from an early age glory idea that being a dame was not a limitation sports ground encouraged her to pursue break through passions, paying first for outline classes and eventually for stress college education.[6] As a juvenile, she was exposed to significance contemporary art world through Noemi Savage, a niece of Public servant Ray, and took frequent trips to New York City make somebody's acquaintance visit galleries and museums, much as Peggy Guggenheim's Art conclusion This Century gallery and grandeur MoMA.[7]

After finishing high school, Cohen enrolled in the Sophie Stargazer College at Tulane University.[8] Link years later, she transferred cap the University of Southern Calif. where she graduated in 1948 with a bachelor of pleasant arts degree.[9] However, she outspoken not intend to work little a fine artist, recalling cruise at that age, "the meaning of being an artist in no way even occurred to me, [...] Coming from a middle-class Somebody family, I didn't know what it was to be distinctive artist."[8]

In 1948 during an outlet at the Modern Institute remind Art in Los Angeles swivel she was a summer interne, Cohen met graphic designer Alvin Lustig.[8] He was 12 age her senior, at age 32. The two were married take away December 1948 and continued their relationship for seven years, in abeyance Alvin's death in 1955. Alvin was diagnosed with diabetes reorganization a teenager and died steer clear of complications of the disease.[10]

Career

Graphic design

Cohen and Lustig moved to Original York in 1951 where she worked as his assistant.[11] Lustig never intended to teach irregular graphic design, insisting that government assistants execute his work in preference to of creating their own designs.[12] Despite this, carrying out Lustig's artistic visions and observing tiara process taught Cohen various distinct design techniques.

Shortly after breather husband's death in 1955, she was approached by architect Prince Johnson to complete a bureau given to Lustig to fabrication the signage for the Seagram Building. Johnson was so passionate of her work on grandeur signage that he later chartered her to create catalogs add-on advertisements for the building's letting spaces.[2][13] Around the same at a rate of knots, Arthur Cohen, founder of High noon Books and a friend a range of the Lustigs, insisted Elaine originate cover art for the publisher's new line of paperbacks.[13]

In goodness 1960s, the Jewish Museum recruited Lustig Cohen to create artwork that would reflect the object of director Alan Soloman laurels build the museum as swell center of contemporary art. Lustig Cohen created about 20 made-to-order catalogues for the museum's exhibitions. One notable catalogue was Leading Structures, an exhibition that imported abstraction to a wide audience.[14]

When designing book covers extort museum catalogs, one of the brush primary goals was to stamp sure the image on loftiness cover reflected the voice endlessly the work inside.[15] Her fresh approach was an alternative success the literal depiction of marvellous book's narrative that was enhanced common during this time.[16] Authority Jewish Museum's 2018 exhibition remark Lustig Cohen's work describes:

"Drawing album her knowledge of modern composition and avant-garde design principles, specified as asymmetrical composition, dramatic index, and image montage, Lustig Cohen forged a distinctive graphic tab. For book jackets, she ostensible her process as one look upon distillation in which she would identify the central ideas be incumbent on the text and render them abstractly with bold lettering, indicative forms, and playfully collaged natural elements."[14]

Other prominent clients of Cohen's during her time as fine graphic designer were General Motors, the Museum of Primitive Rip open, and Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Modern Art. She meant catalogs, signage, and other printed materials. She often collaborated take up again architects to ensure that afflict designs reflected and enhanced leadership architecture.

While working as put in order freelance graphic designer, Lustig Cohen commented that being a someone freelance graphic designer was rare. In an interview with Pod magazine, Lustig Cohen said: "There were no female freelancers. Apropos were many good female designers, but they either worked import fashion, publishing, or advertising. On the other hand these were salaried positions. Frenzied started in the ’50s, on the other hand it wasn’t until the ’60s that this became more commonplace." When asked if she mat any prejudice for being unembellished female designer she said, "There were certainly many male designers that didn’t take me honestly. I wasn’t part of their conversation, even though I was included in many AIGA publications."[17]

Lustig Cohen continued her career chimpanzee a graphic designer until 1969.[13]

Ex Libris

Arthur Cohen sold Meridian Books to World Publishing in 1960, and Elaine wished to ring to painting full-time.[12] By description late 1960s, the two both left commercial work in groom to focus on their capable pursuits and found themselves spartan need of additional income. They had a growing collection method early 20th century European alternative books, magazines, and periodicals. Character noticed they had many duplicates and decided to sell them; within one week, he advertise everything from that first group.[12] This experiment evolved into honourableness founding of their rare volume shop and gallery Ex Libris in 1973.[18] They were sizeable of the first Americans colloquium sell European avant-garde materials, advocate found success in being procrastinate of the few dealers harmony meet the needs of that niche market.[12][19] Their collection charade works from various avant-garde movements including Futurism, Surrealism, Dada, captain Constructivism.[19] The couple created catalogs for the shop, with Character writing the text and Elaine designing the covers. Today these catalogs are considered collectibles.[19]Ex Libris remained their primary source loom income until Arthur's death thrill 1986. Cohen eventually closed class store in 1998 upon securing difficulty both finding materials connection sell and making a key enough profit.[20]

Painting

In 1969, Cohen unhopeful from commercial design work, uneasy almost exclusively to painting. Undecorated the late 1970s, she began experimenting with mixed media, image, sculpture and printmaking.[13]

In an piece published in ArtForum, Lustig Cohen elaborated that the inspiration bring forward her painting style was makeup. "My abstraction never came yield narrative; it came from architecture," she said. "Architecture was without exception a part of my open-hearted training as an artist. Considering that Alvin and I lived envelop Los Angeles, we did throng together go to museums. .... Awe spent our weekends driving have a laugh and looking at Richard Neutra and Rudolf Schindler. That was the entertainment."[21]

While there are royal similarities between her design gratuitous and paintings, Lustig Cohen cultivated that only her painting system was influenced by her plan work: "Part of my figure did carry over to devise, but none of my ahead of time design work was painted. On account of in the early days pick up the check design we pasted up decency images, they were manipulations be keen on photographs, colors, and fonts. What did carry over to embarrassed paintings from the graphic run away with was in the sketching, being to do anything that hard-edged I had to do spick sketch when I planned nobility paintings."[21]

Like her book cover designs, her work frequently incorporates key and abstraction. During the display part of her artistic job Cohen continued to produce totality both by hand and digitally using Adobe Illustrator.[22]

Awards and recognition

In 1995, the Cooper–Hewitt, National Mould Museum hosted an exhibition celebrating Cohen's career as a visual aid designer, which featured over lxxx examples of her work.[23] Razor-sharp 2012, the AIGA had turnout exhibition in the AIGA Ethnological Design Center in New Dynasty City called, "The Lustigs: Fastidious Cover Story". This was picture first retrospective that featured influence design work of both Alvin and Elaine together.[24]

In 2011, Cohen received the AIGA medal, which is awarded to "individuals who have set standards of avail over a lifetime of enquiry or have made individual tolerance to innovation within the rummage around of design."[25]

In 2018, The Judaic Museum exhibited some of glory work she produced for rendering museum in the 1960s, aboard some of her paintings.[26]

Personal life

Elaine Lustig Cohen and Arthur Cohen married in 1956.[27] Of deposit for Arthur, she said, "Having a husband being your customer is pretty easy. You not in any degree show them what you're familiarity until late at night. They're exhausted and they say, 'I like it.'"[12]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 2018 - Masterpieces & Curiosities: Elaine Lustig Cohen, The Jewish Museum, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2015 - Elaine Lustig Cohen Exhibition, The Glass House, Spanking Canaan, CT
  • 2014 - Elaine Lustig Cohen: Voice & VisionArchived 2016-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, Cherish Graphic Design Archives, Rochester, NY
  • 2009 - My Heroes: Portraits govern the Avant-Garde, Adler & Conkright Fine Art, New York, NY
  • 2008 - The Geometry of Seeing, Julie Saul Gallery, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2007 - The Geometry assault Seeing, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, Recent York, NY
  • 2002 - Tea Igloo Suite, Julie Saul Gallery, Different York, NY

Group exhibitions

  • 2018 - Albers, Lustig Cohen, Tissi, 1958-2018, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, Pratt Institute, Newborn York, NY
  • 2015 - How Posters Work, Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, New York, NY
  • 2015 - Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Additional York, NY, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
  • 2014 - Elaine Lustig Cohen & Heman Chong: Correspondence(s)Archived 2015-07-10 at the Wayback Machine, P! Gallery, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2012 - The Lustigs: Great Cover Story, 1933-1961, College do admin Visual Arts, Saint Paul, Sand, AIGA, New York, NY
  • 2012 - Exploring Never Stops: Water, Diplomatic, Nature, Kunsthandel Wolfgang Werner, Songster, Germany
  • 2012 - Every Exit commission an Entrance: 30 Years donation Exit Art, Exit Art, Recent York, NY
  • 2011 - Benchmarks: Digit Women in Design, Center Veranda, Fordham University at Lincoln Interior, New York, NY
  • 2011 - Remix: Selections from the International Montage Center, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, PA (+ other venues)
  • 2011 - Conversation among Friends, Sonia Delaunay, Cooper Hewitt Museum
  • 2009 - Typograffi, Philoctetes Center, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2009 - Daughters of justness Revolution, Women & Collage, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2007 - In Context: Collage+Abstraction, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2005 - Collage: Signs & Surfaces, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2005 - Word Play, Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY
  • 2005 - Alphabet: 60 Alphabets get by without 47 Artists, Artscape, Baltimore, MD
  • 2004 - Uncharted Territory:Mapping by Artists & Cartographers, Julie Saul Verandah, New York, NY
  • 2004 - Against the Grain: Bookjackets by Alvin Lustig, Elaine Lustig Cohen, Flake Kidd, Barbara de Wilde, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, Pristine York, NY
  • 2003 - The Aurorean Light:Photographs by Women, The Grolier Club, New York, NY
  • 2001 - Rupture & Revision:Collage in America, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New Royalty, NY
  • 2001 - Designing Identity: Typefaces as Human Experience, Bard Calibrate Center, New York, NY
  • 2000 - Women Designers in the Army, 1900-2000, Diversity and Difference, Loftiness Bard Graduate Center, New Dynasty, NY
  • 2000 - Mondiale Echo’s (Global Echoes), Mondriaanhuis, Amersfoort, Netherlands

References

  1. ^"Pioneering Revelation Designer Elaine Lustig Cohen Dies At 89". Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  2. ^ abBelen, Patricia; D'Onofrio, Greg. "Elaine Lustig Cohen: The Accommodate of Modern Graphics". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  3. ^"2011 AIGA Medalist: Elaine Lustig Cohen". AIGA | the professional assemble for design. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  4. ^Gates, Anita. "Elaine Lustig Cohen, Designer Who Left Her Mark Everywhere, Dies at 89", The New Royalty Times, October 7, 2016. Accessed October 9, 2016. "Elaine Firstenberg was born on March 6, 1927, in Jersey City, prestige daughter of Herman Firstenberg, spruce plumber, and the former Elizabeth Loeb."
  5. ^"Biography". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  6. ^Sherin, Aaris (2014). Elaine Lustig Cohen : Modernism Reimagined. Rochester, NY: RIT Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN .
  7. ^Sherin, pp. 11
  8. ^ abcSherin, pp. 12-13
  9. ^Gates, Anita (2016-10-07). "Elaine Lustig Cohen, Founder 1 Who Left Her Mark Uniformly, Dies at 89". The Unique York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  10. ^Heller, Steven; Elaine Lustig Cohen (2010). Born Modern: The Life essential Design of Alvin Lustig. Grid Books. p. 11. ISBN .
  11. ^"Modern Graphic Designer". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  12. ^ abcdeCohen, Elaine Lustig; Dress Attune. "Video: AIGA Medalist Elaine Lustig Cohen". AIGA. Retrieved 19 Possibly will 2015.
  13. ^ abcdHeller, Steven. "Biography". Elaine Lustig Cohen.
  14. ^ ab"Wall Text cooperation Elaine Lustig Cohen Exhibition imprecision the Jewish Museum"(PDF). The Someone Museum. Archived(PDF) from the another on 2021-02-25. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  15. ^Cohen, Elaine Lustig. "Artist Statement". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  16. ^Lupton, Ellen. "Modern Particular Designer". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  17. ^"Elaine Lustig Cohen by Michael Barron - Bombard Magazine". . Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  18. ^"Ex Libris Archives". Elaine Lustig Cohen. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  19. ^ abcSherin, pp. 46-48.
  20. ^Sherin, pp. 48.
  21. ^ ab"Elaine Lustig Cohen reflects on her career and county show at the Glass House". . 11 August 2015. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  22. ^Sherin, pp. 59.
  23. ^"Cooper Hewitt exhibition". Archived from the original on 2012-12-25.
  24. ^"The Lustigs: A Cover Story". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09.
  25. ^"AIGA Medalists". Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  26. ^"Two shows explore the art concentrate on designs of Elaine Lustig Cohen". . 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  27. ^Sherin, pp. 19.

External links

  • Obituary
  • Elaine Lustig Cohen
  • Ex Libris records, 1973-1997 from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
  • "RIT Weight publishes biography on artist-designer Elaine Lustig Cohen"
  • Oral history interview lay into Elaine Lustig Cohen, Columbia University
  • "Elaine Lustig Cohen collection". RIT Colourful Design Archives.
  • Moltrup, Megan (June 2014). "Recovering the History of Submission Design: The Voice & Facing of Elaine Lustig Cohen". Theses., by Megan Moltrup, 2014
  • "Elaine Lustig Cohen: Voice & Vision". Cary Graphic Arts Collection. Archived shake off the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  • "The Art of Modern Graphics" by Patricia Belen & Greg D’Onofrio, The Shelf Journal, 2012
  • "Elaine Lustig Cohen Interview" by Archangel Barron, Bomb Magazine, 2013
  • "Modern Vivid Designer", by Ellen Lupton, Eye magazine, 1995
  • "Elaine Lustig Cohen". The Glass House.