USA, 1898 - 1971

"If you know yourself, you are doomed."
- Alexey Brodovitch

Brodovitch in New York,
c. 1960
Photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson

martini advertisement
1926

Athelia
Catalogue Cover
1929

Madelios Catalogue Sports
Catalogue Cover
1929

* More would follow. In the mid 1930's Paul Rand, influenced by avant-garde european art, started his own design practice.

At the Philadelphia college of Art Brodovitch teached by using examples of european graphic design, questioning his students about the placing of the elements and the decisions made by the designers. He once said "we learn by making mistakes. We must be critical of ourselves and have the courage to start all over again after each failure. Only then do we really absorb, really start to know."* He placed himself on the same level as his students, treating them as equals. He often brought real design assignments to the classroom, asking his students to think along.

* Brodovitch, 'Brodovitch on Brodovitch', 45.

Brodovitch reviewing
page layouts. He saw photographs in sequence as if they were frames in a film.
Photograph by Richard Avedon.
1959

Brodovitch in his office at Harper's Bazaar. Photograph by Maurice Tabard.
ca. 1950

"I saw a fresh, new conception of layout technique that struck me like a revelation: pages that bled beautifully, cropped photographs, typography and design that were bold and arresting. Within ten minutes i had asked Brodovitch to have cocktails with me, and that evening i signed him to a provisional contract as art director."
- carmel snow*

* Carmel Snow and Mary Louise Aswell,'The world of Carmel Snow', NY, McGraw-Hill, 1962,90.

Harper's Bazaar, September 1956
Photograph by Richard Avedon

Harper's Bazaar,
April 1940
Design by A.M. Cassandre

Besides his work at Bazaar, his freelance work grew throughout the forties. In 1949 Frank Zachary felt the need to create an american publication focused on art and design, like there had been several in europe. When looking for an art director they thought of Paul Rand and Brodovitch. Rand appeared to be too much of an artist and not enough of an art director, so Brodovitch became director of Portfolio.

The Ultra Violets
Article in Harper's Bazaar, Photographs by
Richard Avedon.
published in the last issue directed by Brodovitch
August 1958

The Ultra Violets
Article in Harper's Bazaar, Photographs by
Richard Avedon.
published in the last issue directed by Brodovitch
August 1958