Frank Zachary [Editor], Alexey Brodovitch [Art Director]: PORTFOLIO. THE ANNUAL OF THE GRAPHIC ARTS. Cincinnati: Zebra Press with Duell, Sloane and Pierce, Volume 1, Number 3, Spring 1951. First Edition. Folio. Printed thick dust jacket form fitted over plain chipboards as issued. [100] pp. Illustrated articles printed on a variety of paper stocks. Elaborate graphic design throughout by Alexey Brodovitch. Dust jacket spine lightly sunned and cracked in a couple of spots, but 100 percent intact— virtually all copies of this edition are severely damaged along the spine because of the assembly method and materials. The condition of this particular example is well above average. Dust jacket sunned, lightly soiled and worn with wear especially to the fore edges. Binding tight and secure, with the textblock complete with a few examples of spotting throughout. A very good copy.
The 3-D stereoscopic viewing spectacles are missing. One of only three issues published during this magazines short lifespan.
10 x 13 edition with over 100 pages of the finest editorial graphic design of all time. Portfolio is generally regarded as the high-water mark for American Editorial Graphic Design, and this issue spotlighting the work of Alexander Calder, Ben Shahn and Jackson Pollock shows you exactly why.
This edition includes a bound-in marble paper sample as well as a tipped-in calligraphy sample that utilizes the highest quality printing available in the early 1950s.
Contents:
Alexey Brodovitch (1898-1971) is a legend in graphic design: during his 25-year tenure as art director of Harper's Bazaar, he exerted tremendous influence on the direction of design and photography. A passionate teacher of graphic design, advocate of photography and collaborator with many prominent photographers, Brodovitch is often credited with having a major influence on the acceptance of European modernism in America. His use of assymetrical layouts, white space, & dynamic imagery changed the nature of magazine design. He was responsible for exposing everyday Americans to avant-garde artists by commissioning work from cutting-edge artists such as Cassandre, Dali, Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, etc.
'Portfolio' is considered Brodovitch's greatest achievement-- although short-lived, the magazine captured the dynamic work of some of his emerging star students from his famous Design Laboratory, including Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Art Kane.
The list of contents and contributors for Portfolio magazine reads like a guest list at some great event hosted by an enlightened art patron. "Producing a magazine is not unlike giving a party -- the editor-in-chief has to be a good master of ceremonies." according to Frank Zachary.
Like Brodovitch, Zachary likened publication design to cinematography, where the pacing of visual sequences plays an important role. Art directing and editing are one and the same thing -- you have to keep your eye on both the visual and verbal narration line. "You have to tell two stories, one in words, one in pictures, completely separate -- but like railroad track, leading to the same place." Zachary recounted to Martin Pedersen in Graphis Publications (Zurich, Graphis Press Corp., 1992).
"Astonish me!" was Brodovitch's often quoted exhortation to students attending his "Design Laboratory" classes over the years. Though borrowing "étonnez-moi!" from the Russian ballet master Sergei Diaghilev, with this charge, Brodovitch indeed set in motion the application of the modernist ethos to American graphic design and photography.
Brodovitch's legacy was given a boost by the publication of a major monograph on his work in 2002 by Phaidon. The Phaidon book reproduces every single page of each issue of Portfolio-- a very unusual tribute.
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