The Lustigs: A cover story
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An exterior view of the exhibit at the AIGA National Design Center in New York City -
Alvin Lustig: Arthur Rimbaud, A Season in Hell, A New Directions Book, 1945 (Courtesy CVA) -
Work by AIGA Medalist Elaine Lustig Cohen at the exhibition in New York -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: Tennesse Williams, In the Winter of Cities, A New Directions Book, 1956 (Courtesy CVA) -
Publications and covers designed by AIGA Medalist Alvin Lustig are part of the exhibition -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: Tennessee Williams, Baby Doll, A New Directions Book, 1956 (Courtesy CVA) -
Alvin Lustig: Franz Kafka, Amerika, A New Directions Book, 1946 (Courtesy CVA) -
Detail of covers designed by Elaine Lustig Cohen, who was honored with the AIGA Medal in 2011 -
Alvin Lustig: James Joyce, Exiles, A New Directions Book, 1945 (Courtesy CVA) -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: New Directions in prose and poetry 16, New Directions, 1957 (Courtesy CVA) -
Alvin Lustig: Arthur Rimbaud, Illuminations, A New Directions Book, 1945 (Courtesy CVA) -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: Edward Dahlberg, The Sorrows of Priapus, A New Directions Book, 1957 (Courtesy CVA) -
Detail view of album covers by Alvin Lustig and Alex Steinweiss for Columbia Records -
Alvin Lustig: Kay Boyle, Monday Night, A New Directions Book, 1947 (Courtesy CVA) -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: The Varieties of History, Fritz Stern (ed), Meridian Books, 1956 (Courtesy CVA) -
Alvin Lustig: Henry James, The Spoils of Poynton, A New Directions Book, 1947 (Courtesy CVA) -
Elaine Lustig Cohen: The Strange Islands: Poems by Thomas Merton, A New Directions Book, 1957 (Courtesy CVA) -
Alvin Lustig: Gertrude Stein, Three Lives, A New Directions Book, 1945 (Courtesy CVA)
Alvin Lustig and Elaine Lustig Cohen created a distinctive body of design work that melded the ideas of European modernism with a uniquely American approach to graphic design. In partnership with the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota, AIGA presents “The Lustigs: A Cover Story”—an exhibition which includes nearly 500 of their book, magazine and catalog covers designed and illustrated between 1933 and 1961.
The two worked together after their marriage in 1948, and Elaine Lustig Cohen assumed ownership of Alvin Lustig’s design practice after he passed away, emerging “among her male counterparts as an exemplar of contemporary graphic design and typography.” He was posthumously honored with the prestigious AIGA Medal in 1993, and she was honored with the AIGA Medal in 2011. Although each has been recognized with individual exhibitions, this retrospective is the first in which their work has been shown together.
The Lustigs: A Conversation with Elaine Lustig Cohen and Steven Heller
In conjunction with the exhibition, AIGA New York is hosting a special talk with Steven Heller and Elaine Lustig Cohen at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York on Thursday, January 17 from 6:30–8:00 p.m. Learn more at aigany.org.
See the exhibition in New York
The exhibition is on view though February 15, 2013 at the AIGA National Design Center in New York City. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Gallery hours:
Monday through Thursday: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 11:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.
Please note: The AIGA National Design Center gallery will be closed Monday, January 21.
Gallery location:
AIGA National Design Center Gallery [map]
164 Fifth Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets)
New York, NY 10010
212 807 1990
Special thanks
Exhibition design and identity design: College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota
Select Alvin Lustig materials courtesy of the Rochester Institute of Technology Cary Graphic Arts Collection in Rochester, New York
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from theNew York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
