A–D
June-July 1940
Robert L. Leslie and Percy Seitlin [Editors]
Robert L. Leslie and Percy Seitlin [Editors]: A-D [An Intimate Journal For Art Directors, Production Managers, and their Associates]. New York: The Composing Room/P.M. Publishing Co., Volume 6, No. 5: June/July 1941. First edition. Slim 12mo. Stitched and perfect-bound two-color wrappers. 61 [15] pp. Illustrated articles and advertisements. Wraparound cover design 3-color lithographed in the Graphic-Tone Process by Featured Artist Maurice Freed. Uncoated white wrappers toned with a slightly darkened spine. Interior fine, so a very good or better copy.
This volume measures 5.5 x 7.75 with 61 [15] pages of articles including 29 Prints by Graphic Artists of the NYC WPA Art Project by Lynd Ward and more. Contents:
- Maurice Freed: 8-page insert lithographed in the Graphic-Tone Process.
- 29 Prints by Graphic Artists of the NYC WPA Art Project: presented by Lynd Ward. Includes a 3-page text introduction by Ward (former Supervisor Graphic Arts Division New York City WPA Art Project) followed by 29 full-page b/w offset reproductions of work by Ida Abelman, Harold Anchel, Carlos Anderson, Dayton Brandfield, Louis Breslow, Ruth Chaney, Harry Gottlieb, Riva Helfond, William Hicks, Ben Hoffman, Eli Jacobi, Jacob Kainen, Anne de Kohary, Joe Leboit, Russell T. Limbach, Louis Lozowick, Nan Lurie, Clara Mahl, Beatrice Mandelman, S. L. Margolies, Elizbeth Olds, Leonard Pytlak, Julia Rogers, I. J. Sanger, Saul, Harry Shokler and Hyman Warsager.
- The Photo Gelatine Process
- Books and Pictures: Books Reviewed "Print" Vol. 1, #1; The ABC's of Lettering by J. I. Biegeleisen; Newberry & Caldecott medals.
- A-D Shorts: mentions George F. Trenholm, Herbert Bayer , William Favell Greenfield, Stanley Brown, William Metzig, Emery Gondor, Doris Sherwood Egbert , W. A. Dwiggins, Lucien Bernhard and Lester Beall.
- Listing of Advertisements: American Writing Paper Co., Reliance Reproduction Co., Strathmore Paper Co., The Composing Room, Caxton Press, Inc., Graphic Arts Engraving, Crafton Co., Ludlow Typograph Co., Fuchs and Lang Mfg. Co., Wilbar Photo Engraving, and Flower Electrotypes.
Ida York Abelman (1910- ) studied at the National Academy of Design and the Design Laboratory. She was active in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. Her work has been exhibited at the Federal Art Gallery, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Berkshire Museum of Fine Arts. She was included in the American Artist's Congress 100 Print Show ≥America Today≤.
Harold Anchel was a printmaker active in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. He studied at the Art Student's League and the National Academy of Design.
Carlos Anderson studied at the Los Angeles Art Institute, the Art Students League and the Grand Chaumiere in Paris. He specialized in lithography and was an artist in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. His work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1936 and at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1938. In 1934 he received a government commission for a series of drawings of the Old West.
Dayton Brandfield studied at the National Academy of Design, Art Studentπs League and Cooper Union. He was an accomplished woodblock artist and lithographer active in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. He has been exhibited at the Chicago Art Insitute, Los Angeles Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York Public Library.
Louis Breslow studied at the National Academy of Design and in Europe. He worked in watercolor, oil and was a wood engraver active in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. His work has been exhibited at the national Academy of Design. the American Watercolor Society and the Philadelphia Print Club.
Ruth Chaney was a printmaker in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. She worked closely with Anthony Velonis in the development of the serigraph process.
Harry Gottlieb (1895- ) received his training at the Minneapolis School of Art, specializing in design. He began his career in New York as a wallpaper designer. After a few months he became a stage manager and scene designer in Provincetown. He then settled in Woodstock, New York and began painting. He was on the Federal Art Project both in Woodstock and in New York City. In 1931 he received the Guggenheim Fellowship and spent the next year traveling abroad. His work is in the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art as well as several other smaller museums and university collections. In addition he was the first director of The American Artists School (1936-7) and president of the Artistπs Union, an organization that lobbied for federal support for artists.
Riva Helfond (1910- ) studied at the Art Studentπs League, New York. She was WPA artist and her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, National Academy of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the San Fransisco Museum of Art. Her work is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Los Angeles Museum of Art and many others. She taught at New York University.
William Hicks (1895 - ) was a WPA artist in New York from 1935 - 1941. He studied with H. LeRoy and his work has been exhibited at the Art Insitute of Chicago, the Society of American Etchers and the Federal Art Gallery. His work is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
Ben Hoffman was a graphic artist active with the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA.
Eli Jacobi was born in Russia and his specialty was block printing. He studied in Europe and Asia before coming to the US in 1920. He also studied at the Art Studentπs League. He was successful as amagzine and book illustrator be fore returning to painting in 1930. He exhibited at the Chicago Art Insitute, Museum of Modern Art and the National Arts Club. He worked as a WPA artist and was a contributing illustrator to Nation, Saturday Review and Living Age.
Jacob Kainen (1909 - ) studied at the Art Studentπs League, New York, New York University, Pratt Institute and George Washington University in Washington DC. He was a social realist in the 1930πs working in color lithography. He was a printmaker with the New York City WPA from 1935 to 1942. His later work consists primarily of abstract paintings. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library and the National Museum. From 1942-1970 he was curator of Graphic arts at the Smithsonianπs U. S. National Museum and was curator of the department of Prints and Drawings at the Smithsonian's National Collection of Fine Arts from 1966 to 1969.
Anne de Kohary (1910 - ) was a graphic artist active with the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA.
Joe Leboit (1907 - ) studied at the City College of New York and at the Art Studentπs League with Thomas Benton. He was a WPA artist from 1935 to 1939 and held the staff artists position at PM newspaper from 1943. His work has been exhibited at the Art Insitute of Chicago and the ACA Gallery. He taught at the American Artists School in 1940-1.
Russell T. Limbach (1904 - 1971) grew up in Ohio and studied at the Cleveland School of Art and in Paris and Vienna. He served as a technical expert on color lithography fro the New York City WPA from 1935 to 1940. His work is in the collections of Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, the San Fransisco Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was professor of painting at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Louis Lozowick (1892 - 1974) was born in Russia and studied at the Kiev Art School. He came to New York in 1906 and studied at the National Academy of Design with Leon Kroll and Emil Carlsen. He graduated from Ohio State University in 1918 and then went to Europe. While there he studied in Paris and Berlin and was influenced by the Constructivists, De Stijl and Bauhaus philosophies. He served on the editorial board of the New Masses and was active as a lecturer and writer. He was in the graphics division of the New York City WPA from 1934 to 1940 and was a member of the American Printmakers as well as the American Society of Printers, Sculptors and Gravers. His work was included in the AIGA 50 Prints of the Years in 1932, 33 and 34. Lozowickπs lithographic work featured his interest in the repetitious form of windows, pipes, towers, tanks and smokestacks of the factories, skyscrapers and bridges of New Jersey and New York.
Nan Lurie was a WPA artist in the graphic arts division. She studied at the Art Studentπs League. Her work has been exhibited at the ACA Gallery, Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts. †
Clara Mahl studied at the Grand Central School of Art, the Art Studentπs League and the National Academy of Design. She was a WPA artist in New York City from 1935 to 1942. Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Hudson Walker Gallery and the Julien Levy Gallery.
Beatrice Mandelman (1912 - ) began her art instruction at the age of twelve by attending evening classes at the Newark School of Fine Arts. She continued her art instruction after college at the Art Studentπs League in New York, studying under lithographer George Pickens. In addition, she studied painting in France with Fernand Leger. She was involved with the WPA Federal Arts Project in New York first as a mural assistant and then in graphic arts. It was at this point that she developed her fine art approach to silkscreen with five other artists. These artists coined the term åserigraphπ and founded the Serigraph Society. Her work has been exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery. She relocated to New Mexico in 1944 and continued her abstract painting work. In 1959 she became a teacher at the Taos Valley Art School.
S. L. Margolies (1897 - 1978) studied at Cooper Union Art School and the National Academy of Design. During the 1930's he was involved in the Queensboro Society of Allied Arts and Crafts and was a member of the Society of American Etchers. Margolies was involved in the WPA easel painting program as a printmaker from 1935 until 1939. In 1939 he left WPA to work for the Bundy Corporation as a circuit designer. During the 1950πs he taught courses in etching.
Elizabeth Olds (1896 - ) studied at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Studentπs League. She was a member of the American Artists Congress and the Artists League of America. She was on the original board of control and faculty of the American Artists School. She was involved in the New York City WPA as a graphic artist from 1935-1940 and participated in the silkscreen unit which helped to develop serigraphy as a fine art medium. She was the first woman awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. Her work was exhibited at the Kansas Art Insitute, Philadelphia Artists Alliance and the Philadelphia Print Club. She participated in the PM magazine competition ≥Artist as Reporter≤ 1940. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, New York Public Library, the San Fransisco Museum of Art and many others. She was author / illustrator of The Big Fire which was chosen as a Jr. Literary Guild Selection in 1945.
Leonard Pytlak (1910 - ) studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art and the Art Studentπs League. He was a member of the Art League of America, Philadelphia Color Print Society and Audobon Artists. He was a member and founder of the National Serigraph Society and was involved with the New York City WPA as a graphic artist from 1934 to 1941. His work is in the collections of the Metroplitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum, New York Public Library, Museum of Modern Art, Contemporary Art Museum and the National Serigraph Society.
Julia Rogers was a painter and mural artist involved with the New York City WPA. She was involved in the WPA graphic division in 1939.
I. J. Sanger (1899 - ) studied at the Fine Arts Department of the Teacher's College, Columbia. His work was included in the Fifty Prints of the Year 1931 and the Fine Prints of the Year 1936. He was involved with the New York City WPA in the graphic arts division. His work is in the New York Public Library, the Newark Public Library and the San Diego Fine Arts Gallery.
Harry Shokler (1896 - ) was a printmaker and taught at the Brooklyn Museum School. He was a member of the National Serigraph Society, the American Color Print Society and the Artists League of America. He was a WPA artist in the New York City graphic arts division. His work has been exhibited at the National Academy of Design, the San Fransisco Museum of Art and the Library of Congress. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Syracuse Museum of Fine Art, the Library of Congress and many others. He is the author of Artists Manual for Silkscreen Printmaking.
Hyman Warsager (1909 - ) was raised in New York and attended Pratt Insitute of Art, Grand Central School of Art and the American Artists School. He was an active in the New York City WPA graphic arts division from 1935-1939. He was one of six artist working closely with Anthony Velonis to develop the silkscreen process, serigraphy. His work has been exhibited at the Philadelphia Arts Alliance, the Philadelphia Print Club, the San Fransisco Art Association and the Chicago Art Institute. He was a regular contributor to the New Masses.
PM magazine was the leading voice of the U. S. Graphic Arts Industry from its inception in 1934 to its end in 1942 (then called AD). As a publication produced by and for professionals, it spotlighted cutting-edge production technology and the highest possible quality reproduction techniques (from engraving to plates). PM and A-D also championed the Modern movement by showcasing work from the vanguard of the European Avant-Garde well before this type of work was known to a wide audience.