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Alexey Brodovitch

  • Alexey Brodovitch was a Belarus-born émigré graphic artist, art director and photographer who, from 1933, worked in New York for [i]Harper’s Bazaar[/i] magazine and at the New School for Social Research.
  • Alexey
  • Brodovitch
  • Alexei Brodowitsch, Alexis Brodovitch

  • 01-05-1898
  • Ogolichi (BLR)
  • 15-04-1971
  • Le Thor (FR)
  • PhotographerArt DirectorGraphic Designer
  • Alexey Brodovitch was a Belarus-born émigré graphic artist, art director and photographer who, from 1933, worked in New York for Harper’s Bazaar magazine and at the New School for Social Research.

    Word Count: 31

  • Hermann Landshoff, Der Grafikdesigner, Fotograf und Art Director Alexey Brodovitch in seiner Wohnung, 1942–45, New York (© bpk / Münchner Stadtmuseum, Sammlung Fotografie / Archiv Landshoff).
  • The diasporic life of Alexey Brodovitch began in 1920 at the age of 22, when he emigrated from Belarus to Berlin and then, in 1923, to Paris. There, he tried to start a career as a painter but also worked as a poster and exhibition designer and started finding new ways to produce modern but simple designs. He received commissions from magazines like Cahier d’Arts, the Athelia design studio and La Pléiade publishing house. His textile designs were also presented at the Exhibition International des Art Decoratifs in Paris. He lived with his wife Nina Brodovitch (1896–1960), whom he married in 1923, and son Nikita Brodovitch (1924–1988) in a small apartment in Montparnasse. In 1930 the family emigrated to the U.S., and probably lived initially in Pennsylvania, where Alexey Brodovitch found a teaching position at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (1930–1934). In parallel, in 1932, he started his first courses in New York at the School of Fine and Applied Art (today's Parsons School of Design) at 2239 Broadway. The passenger list of the ship that brought them to the U.S. in 1933 indicates that the family sailed from Le Havre and arrived in New York in September 1933. In New York, they lived first on 304 East 66th Street and, from the 1950s, at 315 East 75th Street.

    In 1934 Alexey Brodovitch started working at the fashion and art magazine Harper’s Bazaar, where he became art director in 1946 and also managed Junior Bazaar. Harper's Bazaar took on a new look under his leadership. Combining typography with layout and photography, Brodovitch created simple designs that were both modern and expressive. Working with both émigré and American photographers, he became an important contact node in the émigré network, providing  émigrés with the opportunity to work for or sell their work to the magazine. Through him, photography took on a new role in journalism. Among the émigré photographers featured by Brodovitch were Hermann Landshoff, Fritz Henle, Lisette Model, Erwin Blumenfeld, Horst P. Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, Cecil Beaton and Martin Munkácsi. Other emigrants working at Harper’s Bazaar were for example the Ukraine illustrator Vladimir Bobritsky (Bobri).

    A portrait series of Alexey Brodovitch was made by the German émigré photographer Hermann Landshoff. Landshoff photographed Brodovitch a total of eleven times between 1942 and 1961. Five photographs dated between 1942 and 1945 show the graphic designer, photographer and art director in his apartment. Holding a cigarette in his hand, Brodovitch is depicted in pensive pose or concentrating on his work while seated at a desk. Another shot shows him with the cover of a book on the sculptor Alexander Calder. Whether Brodovitch was responsible for the design of the book's frontispiece cannot be determined. What is certain is that Brodovitch's home office points to his profession, since Landshoff shows him working as an art director. The Brodovitch portraits are part of a large series by Hermann Landshoff featuring photographs of his émigré colleagues in New York. As well as Brodovitch, these included Andreas Feininger, Lisette Model, Fritz Goro (husband of Carola Gregor), Robert Frank, Martin Munkacsi, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Erwin Blumenfeld, Horst P. Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, André Kértész, Herbert Matter, Lucien Vogel and Maurice Tabard, as well as American photographers Ansel Adams, Berenice Abbot and Edward Steichen.

    In addition to his work at Harper's Bazaar, Brodovitch pursued an interdisciplinary renewal of graphic design, journalism and photography through teaching. After working at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art (1930–1934), he started in 1932 a course in New York at the School of Fine and Applied Art (today's Parsons School of Design) at 2239 Broadway. The school was conducted as a laboratory of design conception and open to graduates who had already undergone similar training elsewhere or had work experience in the field. This laboratory course was the beginning of the Design Laboratory, which was founded in 1941 at the New School for Social Research and sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (located at 5 East 40th Street). Many photographers, including Richard Avedon, Lisette Model, Louis Faurer, Hans Namuth, Lilian Bassmann and Robert Frank attended classes there, often with the hope of landing an assignment with Harper’s Bazaar. Besides in his work at the Design Laboratory, Brodovitch also pursued this interdisciplinary approach to the fields of journalism, graphic art and photography in his courses at the New School for Social Research. Examples of his courses were:
    “Art Applied to Graphic Journalism, Advertising, Design, Fashion”, “Photography in Journalism” and “Graphic Journalism”. The German émigré Kurt Safranski, one of the founders of the Black Star photo agency, took his courses at the New School for Social Research in a similar attempt to combine photographic, graphic and journalistic elements. Today these courses can be seen as the first examples in the field of visual communication. Like other émigré photographers such as Josef Breitenbach, Charles Leirens, Tim Gidal and Lisette Model, Safranski and Brodovitch had in common that they aimed to share their professional experience with both emigrant and American students and create a network of transcultural exchange in exile.

    From the mid-1940s, Brodovitch was also active as a photographer himself and became known primarily for his photobook Ballet published in 1945 by the exile publishing house J. J. Augustin. The images in Ballet provide a great example of experimental and aesthetic photobooks in exile. Brodovitch used a Contax camera, favouring the flexible, dynamic hand-holding method of photographing different ballet companies in New York during their world tours between 1935 and 1937. The results are blurred, high contrast black and white images of the ballet dancers, who appear like dancers in a movie. The use of overlapping pages and panoramic views gives the whole book the appearance of a movie strip and captures the vibrancy, fluidity and movement of the dance. The same year, Brodovitch also designed the cover and editorial content of the photobook Day of Paris by the émigré André Kertész. It was published in May 1945, one month after the end of World War II. Besides the artistic-aesthetic dimension of the images, there was also an emotional dimension as the photographs of pre-war Paris contributed to the nostalgia of the post-war period. The photobook had apparently been planned as early as 1942 as a door opener for Kertész's career in New York, illustrating the difficulties he encountered in trying to restart his professional career there despite being a renowned photographer in Europe. Besides this publishing activity Brodovitch was also founder of the magazine Portfolio and from the 1950s also created his own industrial interior design.

    Today, his work and teaching career are documented in the issues of Harper’s Bazaar, the archive at the New School of Social Research, as well as in the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. In 2021 the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich presented his work and revolutionary contribution to graphic design during the 1930s and 1940s in an exhibition.

    Word Count: 1137

  • Announcement of Alexey Brodovitch “Advertising Design” course at the Pennsylvanian Museum School for Industrial Art (The Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 September 1933, p. 30).
    Announcement of the Design Laboratory by Alexey Brodovitch at the New School of Social Research (© Clara Meyer Papers. Brodovitch, Alexey, 1949-1959, Box: 1, Folder: 35. The New School Archives).
    Announcement of "Art Applied to Graphic Journalism, Advertising, Design, Fashion" course by Alexey Brodovitch, published in New School Bulletin. Art Classes, 1942/43, p. 11 (© New School course catalog collection, NS-05-01-01. The New School Archives).
    Cover of Ballet by Alexey Brodovitch (J.J. Augustin, 1945).
    Design of a lamp by Alexey Brodovitch (St. Louis Post Dispatch, 25 March 1951, p. 103).
  • Alexey Brodovitch. Der erste Art Director, edited by Stefanie Häberli-Bachmann, exh. cat. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Zürich, 2021.

    Displaced Visions. Émigré Photographers of the 20th Century, edited by Nissan N. Perez, exh. cat. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2013.

    Dogramaci, Burcu, and Helene Roth. “Fotografie als Mittler im Exil: Fotojournalismus bei Picture Post in London und Fototheorie und -praxis an der New School for Social Research in New York.” Vermittler*innen zwischen den Kulturen, special issue of Zeitschrift für Museum und Bildung, vol. 86–87, 2019, pp. 13–44.

    Gallagher, Jenna Gabrial. “Alexey Brodovitch: 1934–1958.” Harpers Bazaar, 1 June 2007. Accessed 29 March 2021.

    Gilbert, George. The Illustrated Worldwide Who’s Who of Jews in Photography. G. Gilbert, 1996.

    Grundberg, Andy. Brodovitch (Masters of American Design). H.N. Abrams, 1989.

    Modern Look. Photography and the American Magazine, edited by Mason Klein, exh. cat. Jewish Museum, New York, 2020.

    Morris, John Godfrey. Get the Picture. A Personal History of Photojournalism. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

    New York. Capital of Photography, edited by Max Kozloff, exh. cat. Jewish Museum, New York, 2002.

    Purcell, Kerry William. Alexey Brodovitch, Phaidon Press, 2002.

    Word Count: 174

  • Helene Roth
  • Berlin, Germany (1920–1923); Paris, France (1923–1930); Philadelphia, US (1930–1933); New York, US (1934–1967); Le Thor, France (1967–1971).

  • 304 East 66th Street, Lennox Hill, New York City (residence, 1933–1950s); 315 East 57th Street, Sutton Place, New York City (residence,1950s–1967); 572 Madison Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City (workplace Harper's Bazaar, Hearst Company, 1934–1958).

  • New York
  • Helene Roth. "Alexey Brodovitch." METROMOD Archive, 2021, https://archive.metromod.net/viewer.p/69/2948/object/5138-9603672, last modified: 08-11-2022.
  • Hermann Landshoff
    Photographer
    New York

    Besides outdoor fashion shots, Hermann Landshoff was a portrait and street photographer. During his time in New York, he captured the cultural, artistic and intellectual émigré scene as well as his photographer colleagues.

    Word Count: 33

    Kurt Safranski
    Picture AgentFounding MemberTeacherCartoonistPublisherIllustrator
    New York

    Kurt Safranski was one of the founding members of the Black Star photo agency, a teacher at the New School for Social Research and the author of photojournalistic articles and books.

    Word Count: 31

    Josef Breitenbach
    Photographer
    New York

    On arriving in New York in 1941, the German photographer Josef Breitenbach tried to restart as a portrait, street and experimental photographer, as well as a teacher of photo-history and techniques.

    Word Count: 30

    Andreas Feininger
    PhotographerWriterEditor
    New York

    Andreas Feininger, was a German émigré photographer who arrived in New York with his wife Wysse Feininger in 1939. He started a lifelong career exploring the city's streets, working as a photojournalist and writing a large number of photography manuals.

    Word Count: 39

    Ruth Bernhard
    Photographer
    New York

    Ruth Bernhard was a German émigré photographer who lived in New York from the 1920s to the 1940s. Beside her series on female nudes, her place in the photography network, as well as in the New York queer scene, is unknown and understudied.

    Word Count: 43

    Lisette Model
    Photographer
    New York

    Lisette Model was an Austrian-born photographer who lived in New York with her husband Evsa Model after emigrating from France. Her street photographs capturing the curiosities of everyday life quickly caught the interest of museums and magazines.

    Word Count: 37

    Charles Leirens
    PhotographerMusicianMusicologist
    New York

    Charles Leirens was a Belgian-born musician and photographer who emigrated to New York in 1941. While publishing two books on Belgian music, he also gave courses in musicology and photography at the New School for Social Research.

    Word Count: 36

    Rolf Tietgens
    PhotographerEditorWriter
    New York

    Rolf Tietgens was a German émigré photographer who arrived in New York in 1938. Although, in the course of his photographic career, his artistic and surrealist images were published and shown at exhibitions, his work, today, is very little known.

    Word Count: 39

    Marion Palfi
    Photographer
    New York

    Marion Palfi was a German émigré photographer who lived in New York from the 1940s to the 1960s. Her photographic engagement in social and political topics made her name for her use of the camera to draw attention to social injustices.

    Word Count: 41

    Tim Gidal
    PhotographerPublisherArt Historian
    New York

    Tim Gidal was a German-Jewish photographer, publisher and art historian emigrating in 1948 emigrated to New York. Besides his teaching career, he worked as a photojournalist and, along with his wife Sonia Gidal, published youth books.

    Word Count: 35

    Ernest Nash
    PhotographerArchaeologistLawyer
    New York

    Ernest Nash was a German born photographer, who pursued his photographic as well as an archeologic interest in Roman architecture after his emigration to New York in 1939. Besides this research interest, he also worked as a portrait photographer and publisher.

    Word Count: 40

    Ruth Jacobi
    Photographer
    New York

    Ruth Jacobi was a German-speaking, Polish-born photographer who emigrated in 1935 to New York, where she opened a studio together with her sister Lotte Jacobi. She later had her own portrait studio.

    Word Count: 31

    Fritz Henle
    Photographer
    New York

    Fritz Henle was a German Jewish photographer who emigrated in 1936 to New York, where he worked as a photojournalist for various magazines. He also published several photobooks of his travels throughout North America and Asia.

    Word Count: 35

    Trude Fleischmann
    Photographer
    New York

    Trude Fleischmann was an Austrian-Jewish portrait and dance photographer who emigrated in 1939 to New York, where she opened a studio in Midtown Manhattan with the photographer Frank Elmer.

    Word Count: 28

    Henry Rox
    PhotographerSculptor
    New York

    Henry Rox was a German émigré sculptor and photographer who, in 1938, arrived in New York with his wife, the journalist and art historian Lotte Rox (née Charlotte Fleck), after an initial exile in London. Besides his work as a sculptor, he began creating humorous anthropomorphised fruit and vegetable photographs.

    Word Count: 50

    Chinatown U.S.A.
    Photobook
    New York

    Chinatown U.S.A. is a photobook published by the German émigré photographer Elizabeth Coleman in 1946 focusing on American-Chinese communities in New York and San Francisco.

    Word Count: 26

    5th Avenue
    Photobook
    New York

    5th Avenue was the first photobook by Fred Stein and was created in 1947 with the publishing house Pantheon Books.

    Word Count: 19

    J.J. Augustin Incorporated Publisher
    Publishing House
    New York

    J.J. Augustin was a German publishing house in Glückstadt with a long history, going back to 1632. In 1936 the American branch opened in New York with a large artistic and cultural focus.

    Word Count: 33

    Pantheon Books
    Publishing House
    New York

    Pantheon Books was a publishing house founded in 1942 by the German émigré Kurt Wolff (1887–1963) and aimed at the exiled European community in New York.

    Word Count: 24

    New School for Social Research
    Academy/Art SchoolPhoto SchoolUniversity / Higher Education Institute / Research Institute
    New York

    During the 1940s and 1950s emigrated graphic designers and photographers, along with artists and intellectuals, were given the opportunity to held lectures and workshops at the New School for Social Research.

    Word Count: 31

    Spiratone
    Photo Supplier
    New York

    Spiratone was a photo company and photo supplier founded in 1941 by the Austrian émigré family Hans (1888–1944) and Paula Spira (?–?) and their son Fred Spira (1924–2007).

    Word Count: 24

    Vladimir Bobritsky
    PainterScene DesignerGraphic ArtistMusician
    Istanbul

    Bobritsky worked at the Theatre des Petits Champs, where he successfully dealt with stage designs and costumes, at the same time he participated in the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople.

    Word Count: 31

    Carola Gregor
    PhotographerSculptor
    New York

    The German émigré photographer Carola Gregor was an animal and child photographer and published some of her work in magazines and books. Today her work and life are almost forgotten.

    Word Count: 30