A sign of hope: Tadeusz Trepkowski

Poland was under great stress during World War II. During this time Polish culture seem to diminish over night. Art and culture was lost due to the tragic circumstances that Poland had to endure. One of the many topics that was lost from war was art and more importantly graphic design.

After the war, Poland was at the very bottom of society. The identify of this country had taken a toll, and it had become clear that Poland's image was not their own anymore. While Soviet's influence took over Poland, there were some people who never lost hope in Poland and its culture. During this time, there were very few art schools available due to the limited jobs available (Meggs). Tadeusz Trepkowski was one of the few people who emerged out of these dark times in the result of a terrible circumstance. When looking at Tadeusz Trepkowski's artwork many of these posters have a succinct and dynamic composition. 

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Trepkowski 1937

Before the war, Tadeusz Trepkowski was largely a self taught artist, that focused on simple poster that focuesed on objects. He created public service posted. One of the most famous pre-war posters is three hammers-holding hands, and a fourth injured hand. This symbolizes that an injured hand cannot do work (Rzepkowski). 


Trepkowski 1953

One of Tadeusz Trepkowski more well known posters is the one seen above, called Nie! in 1952 (MoMA). Tadeusz Trepkowski's goal in his work was to capture the memory of the destruction of World War II. Through Tadeusz Trepkowski's posters, the artist had given back pride to Poland. Through his posters, Tadeusz Trepkowski communicated with the people of Poland, giving them a sense of pride once more ("Tadeusz Trepkowski").


Trepkowski 1955

Tadeusz Trepkowski's style in his posters were straightforward composition and pure color. This can be seen in the above poster and the poster called Warszama. He used simple imagery to get the point across to the public in a quick look. He used the famous strategy of 'less is more' (Rzepkowski). 


Trepkowski 1948

Another one of Tadeusz Trepkowski's posters was for a film called "Last Stage." (see above) This movie was post-war and was to give a drama about the tragedy and survival in the concentration camps during World War II. When looking at the film poster there are many different images that stand out to the viewer. There is a quiet and eloquent draw to the viewer of the bend red carnation. The carnation is a traditional flower seen in the remembrance in Poland. The shadow is casted on the striped prison wear, with the identification patch. 

I believe that many people do not realize the importance of posters and their influence on a community. Many of Tadeusz Trepkowski were a symbol to the Polish people that they used in order to recover from World War II (ROGallery). I think people do not give the credit and respect that graphic design should deserve. Many people forget that these posters have an enormous impact not only a community, but an entire country. Tadeusz Trepkowski's poster gave people a reason to be proud of their country again. During these cold time of World War II, this is an important aspect in order to repair a fallen country. 

Reference:
1.) Meggs, Philip B, Alston W. Purvis. Meggs’ History of Graphic Design. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.

2.) Rzepkowski, Kristinn. “Polish Poster Art”. Web. 5 April 2014. http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/poster/poster.html

3.) Museum of Modern Art. “Polish Posters”. Web. 5  April 2014.http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/956

4.) ROGallery. "Tadeusz Trepkowski (1914-1954)." Web. 5 April 2014. http://rogallery.com/Trapkowski/Trepkowski-bio.html

5.) TheArtofPoster. "Tadeusz Trepkowski". Web. 5 April 2014. http://www.theartofposter.com/ttrepkow.htm

Herbert Bayer: a man of many talents

Herbert Bayer was born on April 5th, 1900 born in Haag, Austria. First, Bayer apprenticed in a architectural design and graphic arts studio ("Herbert Bayer"). At this studio under the artist Georg Schmidthammer in Linz ("Herbert Bayer (1900-1985)"). In 1921 he enrolled in the recently established design school called Bauhaus. Bauhaus was founded in the city of Weimar where the main goal was to reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of all the arts ("The Bauhaus, 1919 -1933). Bayer continued his education at Bauhaus and farthered his stay at the school by becoming the most prominent faulty member. At Bauhaus, Bayer worked in a wide range of fields including painting, sculpture, typography, advertising, and architecture. While teaching at the Bauhaus, working as an Art Director for the Container Corporation ("HERBERT BAYER").


Before moving to the United States, he spent time as the Art Director of Vogue magazine's Berlin office ("HERBERT BAYER). One of Bayer's many contributions at this point in time was a typeface called "Universal".

Bayer, 1925, "universal typeface"

In 1938 when he first moved to the United States, he created an exhibit called "Bauhaus 1919-1928" at the New York Museum of Modern Art ("Herbert Bayer, Art Directory"). He represented a number of important exhibitions including Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism,and Art and Advertising Art ("About this artist: Herbert Bayer").


In 1946 Bayer moved to Colorado where he designed for a local architecture and posters for the local community ("HERBERT BAYER"). In 1959, Bayer designed another sans-serif typeface called "fonetik alfabet", which contained special characters for the endings -ed, -ion, -ory, and -ing ("HERBERT BAYER").
:
Bayer, "Bauhaus poster forKandinsky",1926

For several companies Bayer worked as an artistic consultant for including, "Container Corporation of America" and "Atlantic Richfield Company". At this time he was also a design consultant for the Aspen cultural center. Bayer oversaw the acquisitions from within Arco Plaza, the newly-built twin 51 story office towers in Los Angeles.

Bayer, "Double Ascension", 1973

He also worked for the Container Corporation of America (CCA) in Chicago from 1945-1956 as consultant designer and then as chairman of the Department of Design from 1956-1965 ("About this Artist: Herbert Bayer"). He designed and edited the World Geographic Atlas for the CCA between 1948-1953 and was art and design consultant for the Atlantic Richfield Company in 1966. 


Bayer, World Geographic Atlas. A Composite of Man's Environment, 1953.

In 1976, Herbert Bayer moved to Montecito, California. By this time Bayer began to exhibit more of an interest in painting (About this Artist: Herbert Bayer). In his paintings combined geometric and organic abstract forms. An example of this style is through his works like Colorado as seen below.

Bayer, Colorado, 1948.

Continuing with his painting, Bayer uses geometric forms of spheres and cones that appeared frequently and were used in designs for the environment like the structure displayed below called Anaconda.

Bayer, "Anaconda", a marble fountain

Reference:
"About this artist: Herbert Bayer". 2014. Oxford University Press.

"The Bauhaus, 1919-1933". 2013. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Herbert Bayer". 2013. Graphic Design Archive Online. RIT Libraries.

"HERBERT BAYER" 2012. RIT Design Archives. RIT Libraries.

"Herbert Bayer". 2011. Art Directory.

Brief Career of the Beggarstaffs

In 1894, William Nicholson and James Pryde started an advertising design studio. In order to hide their identity they became the Beggarstaffs after seeing a sack of corn labeled "the Beggarstaffs Brothers". The Beggarstaffs started a brand new technique, called collage (Meggs, Purvis 276). This new technique did not follow the traditional trend of art noveau of floral patterns, but instead focused on posters with powerful colored shapes and silhouettes. The Beggarstaffs transformed the history of art with a series of bold, simple designs using flat images and silhouettes (Apatoff, "The Beggarstaff Brothers"). They chose basic designs, because they believed ..."a man on the street, who may be in a hurry, would not take in too many details..." (Raimes, Bhaskaran 32). This explains why these artists designs were made of simple shapes and a general outline that would have an association with a product. 


Above: J. W Beggarstaffs. 1898 Hamlet. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

Before the two artists started their company they collaborated on a poster for Edward Gordon Craig (Innes, Christopher). Craig was preparing to go on tour with the Shakespearean company of W.S. Hardy, to play to role as Hamlet (see above). Pryde and Nicholson designed and produced a poster for the production, making it their first collaboration. 


Above: J.W Beggarstaffs. 1900. Kassama. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

The Beggarstaffs are well known for their collage technique, where they cut pieces of paper,and moved them around on a board in order create an image for the viewer to decipher. One of the most famous example of this is the poster for Kassama Corn Flour (as seen above) where only black and yellow colors are used ("The Beggarstaffs..."). 


Above: J.W Beggarstaffs. 1898. Don Quixote. Web. 18 February 2014. 
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

One of the Beggarstaffs most famous artwork was also the start of their financial problems. Their famous poster, Don Quixote (as seen above), made for Sir Henry Irving's production at eh Lyceum Theatre, was never printed, because the client decided, "it had a bad likeness." ("The Beggarstaffs...")

Unfortunately after only a couple years and only twenty posters made, the Beggarstaffs were forced to close due to the inability to find clients. Even though at the time they were unsuccessful, they are considered innovators in the genesis of modern graphic design (Raimes, Bhaskaran 32). Their designs would become influential to artists in Europe and America when the Early Modern era begins (Megg, Purvis 276). 

Even though their collaboration did not create initial success, after separating both continued their careers in the arts. Nicholson returned to his interest in theatre, where he made designs for various plays, but his famous one was in 1904 for the original production of Peter Pan. William Nicholson was also well known for his illustrations in children's books, including Margery William's 'The Velveteen Rabbit' ("Nicholson, Sir William). After the Beggarstaffs company fell through James Pryde supplemented his income by taking various small parts on stage. As an artist however he is known for his distinct dramatic and sinister styles. One of his more famous pieces of work is in 1930 he designed the sets for Paul Robeson's memorable Othello at the Savoy Theatre in London ("Pryde, James"). 

Reference:
Apatoff, David. "The Beggarstaff Brothers" Illustration Art. 2011. Web. 18 February 2014.
http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/2011/02/beggarstaff-brothers.html

Meggs, Philip and Alston Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print.

Innes, Christopher. Edward Gordon Craig: A Vision Of Theatre, Routledge Harwood Contemporary Theatre Studies, Volume 28 (2nd. edition). Amsterdam: Harwood Academic.1998. Print. 

Raimes, Jonathan and Bhaskaran, Lakshmi. Retro Graphics. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC. 2007. Print. 

"The Beggarstaffs-Sir William Nicholson" Yaneff International Gallery. 2011. Web. 18 February 2014.
http://www.yaneff.com/html/artists/beggarstaff.html

"The Beggarstaffs (aka Sir Willaim Nicholson & James Pryde), British. RO Gallery. 2013. Web. 18 February 2014.http://rogallery.com/Beggarstaffs/beggarstaffs-biography.html

"Pryde, James" The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Ed Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press 2009 Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.

"Nicholson, Sir William" The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. Ed Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press 2009 Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press 

William Morris vs. Renaissance Period

The Arts and Crafts movement developed in the late 19th century. This new style that designers soon adopted challenged the specific tastes of the Victorian era, and were influenced by social reform thinkers ("The Arts and Crafts Movement"). One of these thinkers was William Morris (Meggs, Purvis 177). In this particular blog I will be focusing on Morris's path in context to his artistic and designer abilities. William Morris is best known for his designs that were on fabrics and wallpaper. He gave value to art by focusing on hand-crafted artwork instead of factory-made. I chose William Morris as my second blog reflection, because I believe that his artwork from the 1800's has a strong Renaissance influence. 

Above: Hollyer, Frederick. William Morris. 1884. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Victoria and Albert Museum. Web. 1 February 2014.

The Arts and Craft movement involved many artists like  William Morris, who believed that the Industrial Revolution was destroying the trade of traditional skill and moving toward machine only production ("William Morris: Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement"). Morris had the idea that any hand crafted goods were better quality than goods that were created by any type of urban factory. When looking at many of Morris's designs they all have a strong Gothic art style, but to also incorporate nature as much as possible. Morris believed that "nature was the perfect example of God's design," ("William Morris (1834-1896)"). When Morris creates his artwork, he believed through his practice he was glorifying God ("William Morris (1834-1896)").   

Above: Morris, William. Trellis. 1862. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.

'Trellis' was Morris's first wallpaper designs. As seen above, you can see how not only is nature highly influenced, but there is a Renaissance style to his artwork. It copies a lot of the illuminated manuscripts and tapestries that were popular in that time period’s art. Today Morris's wallpaper designs are still published in high quality, like 'African Marigold' or 'Tulip and Willow'. This shows how strong Morris’s influence has been throughout the years. 

Above: Morris, William. African Marigold. 1876. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.


Above: Above: Morris, William. Tulip and Willow. 1873. ArtyFactory.com. Web. 1 February 2014.

Another influence William Morris had on the Arts and Crafts Movement is Kelmscott Press. Morris's Kelmscott Press was founded in 1891, and continued Morris's view on hand-crafted art ("William Morris (1834-1896)"). Kelmscott Press produced hand-printed books, which all had a Renaissance style. Along with Kelmscott Press printing books, he also created three typefaces: Golden, Chaucer, and Troy (Jones, "William Morris: Father of the Arts & Crafts Movement"). When looking at the typefaces, the style especially Troy and Chaucer, have the same look as Italian typeface designed by Ludovico Vicentini in 1522. 

Above: William Morris. Typefaces. 1897. Web. 1 February 2014.


Above: Ludovicus Vicenrini. 1522. Web. 1 February 2014.

Overall, looking at William Morris style, I believe that he has adopted not only the Renaissance style in fine arts, but also the lifestyle by emphasizing hand-crafted artwork versus factory made. I believe that this is a relevant argument in today's society when it comes to art, local stores, or anything made in the USA in general. I quite agree with Morris's philosophy on fine arts. I believe that hand-crafted items have a higher value due to the immense work and passion artists of any kind put into their masterpieces. 

Reference:
Devroye, Luc. "Ludovico Vicentino degli Arrighi da Vicenza". McGill University. 2014. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-32497.html

Jirousek, Charlotte. "The Arts and Crafts Movement." Art, Design, and Visual Thinking. 1995. Cornell University. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/artcraft/artcraft.htm

Jones, Ralph. "William Morris: Father of the Arts and Crafts Movement". The Arts & Crafts Society. 1995. Web. 1 February 2014.
http://www.arts-crafts.com/archive/wmorris.shtml

Meggs, Philip and Alston Purvis. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2012. Print.

"William Morris (1834-1896)" Artsy Factory. 2014. Web. 1 February 2014. http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/william_morris.html

Artistic Genius or Artist Crook?

As a student who is not majoring in art, but instead appreciates it, I understand both views to the poster controversy of Shephard Fairey's "Hope". Steven Heller makes a good arguing point that art is being made new all the time, giving no one the rights or credit when an image is taken as "source imagery". I believe that Fairey's work does an amazing job of turning known images from the past into iconic modern art. Andre the Giant stickers were first created as a sticker in 1989, since then it has become a famous symbol (Dooley 223). It has been seen around the world from Russia, Singapore, and Paris (Dooley 224). One of the strong indications that shows that the "Obey" posters have gone viral is the sightings of them in movies including: Gone in Sixty Seconds, The Devil's Own, 8 am, and Batman Forever (Dooley 225). As shown below is the most famous of Andre the Giant poster's, "Andre the Giant has a Posse".

Shepard Fairey’s “Andre the Giant has a Posse” image from Obey: Supply & Demand. Print. 25 January 2014.

One of Fairey's most famous pieces of work is "Obey" using Andre the Giant. Fairey uses Andre as someone who is recognized by the common, working class, which is Fairey's audience. Many people like Mark Vallen, believed Fairey stole images from the 1920's and 1960's propaganda in Russia and China. Steven Heller even says, "...I admit that on occasion he has come close to crossing the line from acceptable borrowing into murky infringement territory" (Heller 1). One of the famous comparisons of Fairey almost crossing the line is between John Van Hamersveld's poster of Jimi Hendrix, and Fairey's "Andre Hendrix Print," as seen below.

Left: John Van Hamersveld’s poster of Jimi Hendrix, image from Post-future.com. Web. 25 January 2014.
Right: Shepard Fairey’s “Andre Hendrix Print.” image from NYtimes.com. Web. 25 January 2014.

You can see how many comparisons there are between the two images, but one of the things I notice is how Fairey's image seems to make fun of Hamersveld's. In Hamersveld's you have this powerful image, the strong gaze of Jimi Hendrix, and it has been corrupted with the face of Andre the Giant, who has this lazy look to him. Seeing Fairey's photo I am reminded of not only his signature which is, Andre the Giant.

When it comes the famous "Hope" poster, I do believe that Fairey could have saved a lot of trouble for himself if he had given the credit to Mannie Garcia's Associated Press photo in the first place. When listening to NPR in January, Fairey even says that, "I actually do not know who the photographer is... they have never approached me, my illustration did stylize and idealize from the photo..." (NPR January 2009 ). Fairey states that he obtained the photo off of Google. To me, all these actions point to lucky chance of finding the photo, and unlucky chance of never knowing who the photographer was, so there was no credit given. What needs to be kept in perspective is Fairey was a street artist. He took images that were iconic and recognizable that would be appreciated by the mass public. When it comes to reality, it can be assumed that if Fairey did not use Garcia's photo, no one would have seen it at all. From the NPR interviews and other articles on the internet Garcia took many photos on the same day as the one "Hope" is based on.  

Much of Fariey's artwork takes something that is familiar and changes it. Milton Glaser believes that nothing in Fairey's artwork is substantial and nothing new has been added (Milton Glaser) I highly disagree with this statement. Fairey adds his own style to his images. As shown below to the left is Koloman Moser's 1901 cover for a magazine, and to the right is Fairey's "Nouveau Black", with Fairey's own style. What I find very hard to distinguish is that I think we can all agree that Fairey uses other pieces of work and changes them to his own style, but in the process we revisit where his inspiration came from, and like the original Moser piece below, the art becomes popular again after decades of being forgotten.

Left: Koloman Moser’s 1901 cover for Ver Sacrum magazine. NYTimes.com. Web. 25 January 2014.
Right: Fairey’s “Nouveau Black.” Poster. Web. NYTimes.com. 25 January 2014.

In the subject of the image "Hope", Fairey changes it so it becomes a political image for the people. At the time the image was created, there was a sense of connection by having the first African American president, which was a monumental change in the United States, so it is understandable that a street artist would find this inspirational. Today this happens all the time. A song, jingle, or pun, may become popular from being used in some way, and if it becomes viral is that truly that person's fault? Even if you look at Fairey's "Obey" images being seen around the world and in movies, it became viral, yet he did not have any formal copyrights to it in the beginning of its career.

I do however believe that there have been times when Fairey has approached the line so close that it can be considered crossing over it. Even though I believe the poster "Hope", has become more viral than anyone could have realized, Fairey explains in his NPR interview that besides adding the colors and words to "Hope" all he did to distort the image is change the gaze of where President Obama was looking (NPR Interview February 2009). In my opinion, I believe that since he did not distort the image (as shown below) enough to consider it his own, he should have felt the obligation to give someone the credit for the image used.



Left: Mannie Garcia. No title. Photo. Associated Press. 2006. Web. 25 January 2014.
Right: Shepard Fairey. Hope. Poster. NYTimes.com 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.

Overall, I do understand how it may seem that Fairey is plagiarizing other artists' works, but I still do not believe that Fairey should be considered a crook by any means. For the last 20 years Fairey has used Andre the Giant to promote his artwork, and has changed it various times and ways in order to reach out to the public (Heller 3). I believe that Shepard Fairey is an artist of great talent. 

Reference:
1.) Dooley, Michael. Citizen Designer. Ed. Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne. New York: Allworth Press, 2003. Print.

2.) Fairey, Shepard. Obey: Supply & Demand. Berkeley: Gingko Press, 2006. Print.

3.) Gross, Terry. Interview with Shepard Fairey. NPR: This is Fresh Air. 20 January 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.

4.) Gross, Terry. Interview with Shepard Fairey. NPR: This is Fresh Air. 26 February 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.

5.) Heller, Steven. Shepard Fairey is Not a Crook. Time Magazine. 10 April 2009. Web. 25 January 2014.

6.) Vallen, Mark. Obey Plagiarist Shephard Fairey. n.p. Dec. 2007. Web. 25 January 2014.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!
My name is Sarah Getsy and I am a junior at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y. This blog is specified for a class that I am taking this semester called  AVCD 274Q History of Graphic Design. Throughout the semester I will be documenting what I've learned in lecture and blogging about my own personal reflections the information in lectures and through readings assigned. Each will be surrounded by a relevant topic that interests me. Please enjoy, and feel free to comment on any of the posts that you have your own opinions on. Thank you and have a great semester everyone!