Print, The Graphic Art of Paul Rand

This is a Print. It was graphic design by Paul Rand. It is dated 1970 and we acquired it in 2002. Its medium is offset lithograph on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

It is credited Gift of Marion S. Rand.

Its dimensions are

(closed): 23.5 x 15.9 cm (9 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.) (open): 23.5 x 31.8 cm (9 1/4 x 12 1/2 in.)

It is inscribed

Imprinted on brochure cover, in white: The/Graphic Art/of/Paul Rand; brochure open, left page, upper left: IBM is pleased to present an exhibition of/the work of Paul Rand, one of the most/innovative and influential designers of the/twentieth century. Called by Print magzine "The first American designser to apply/the Bauhaus values of simplicity and/abstraction both consistently and effec-/tively," he is considered one of the/pioneers of the "look" of contemporary/graphic design. In the process, he has helped redefine the role of the art director from that of a middle-man, who put to-/gether the work of others (writer, illustrator,/letterer, and typographer) to that of a designer of a total concept, concerned with/both form and content. In a career cov-/ering more than thirty-five years, he has/won international recognition for his de-/signs for advertisements, books, posters,/packaging, trademarks, and for corpo-/rate design programs, as well as for his abilities as an illustrator, writer and/teacher.; upper right: The nature and quality of his work is/perhaps best characterized by Gibson A./Danes, Dean of the School of Art and/Architecture at Yale University when Rand/taught there. "At a moment when we are/surfeited with the mundane and the medi-/ocre," he has written, "Paul Rand's/precise, elegant and often witty visual/statements are like a spring breeze./He can make the ordinary, extraordinary:/the mundane becomes magical. All of/this happens with a clarity and intuitive/logic that makes the compact solution/seem inevitable because it is right. Per-/haps the real touchstone of his imagi-/native power is his rigorous awareness of/quality. Whatever he does somehow/seems to be a qualitative impovement/upon what was there before."; brochure open, right page, upper left: Born in New York City, Rand studied at/Pratt Institute, Parsons School of/Design, and at the Art Students League/under George Grosz. At the age of/twenty-three, he became art director of/Esquire/Apparel Arts and later of the/Weintraub Advertising Agency. He has/taught at Part Institute and Cooper/Union, and from 1956 to 1969 was profes-/sor of graphic design at Yale University./For many years he has been a consultant/to several major corporations, among/them IBM. Paul Rand's achievements have been/recognized in many ways. In 1966 he/received the Gold Medal of the American/Institute of Graphic Arts. He received/a citation from the Philadelphia College/of Art in 1962, and was made an hon-/orary professor of Tama University, Tokyo/in 1958. In 1959 the book, "Paul Rand,"/by Yusaku Kamekura, was published by/Zokeisha Publications, Tokyo, and/Alfred A. Knopf, New York.; upper right corner: Rand's book, "Thoughts on Design,"/which was published in 1947, is being/issued both here and abroad in re-/vised form as a paperback this year. He/is also the author of "The Trademarks/of Paul Rand" and "Design and the Play/Instinct," as well as numerous papers/on design, advertising and typography,/and has illustrated a series of child-/dren's [sic] books published by Harcourt/Brace & World. Mr. Rand is a Benjamin Franklin Fellow of/The Royal Society of Arts, a member of/Alliance Graphique Internationale, The/Industrial Designers Society of Amer-/ica, The New York Art Directors Club, The/Society of Typographic Arts, and The/Typophiles. He is a past member of the/Fulbright Scholarship Jury, and an ad-/viser on art education to the Philadelphia/College of Art and The Museum School/of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.; on back cover, upper left: "He is an idealist and a realist, using the/language of the poet and the business/man. He thinks in terms of need and func-/tion. He is able to analyze his problems/but his fantasy is boundless."/...Ladislav Moholy-Nagy/"In his work I find constant evidence of/total dedication, such as can be given only/by an individual who devotes body and/soul, capacity and experience to the work/he has chosen: a man who is constantly/aware of what is going on around him, who/is interested in what others think, and/who studies what the past can teach him./These are the qualities that distinguish/a grapahic artist from the amateur and give/his work a claim to nobility."/...Giovanni Pintori, Milan; upper right corner: "Paul Rand, by the very premise of his/work, has been a severe critic of the/average level in advertising presentation/and design. He has proved the value of/his convictions not by words or theories,/but by actual work and courage."/...E. McKnight Kauffer/ "His simple forms and fresh colors reveal/a purity possessed only by very great/art; it is his purity which forms a link be-/tween his work and the essence of/Japanese art tradition. We love Paul Rand/and his art, not only for their own sake,/but as a symbol of the freshness and vital-/ity of American life and culture."/...Yusaku Kamekura, Tokyo; at lower left: The Graphic Art/of Paul Rand/May 18 to June 20, 1970/IBM Gallery/16 E. 57th St., New York/N.Y. 10022/Monday through Saturday/10 am-5pm; lower right: IBM [in black horizontal stripes]

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