Alexey Brodovitch

Alexey Brodovitch was born in Ogolitchi, Russia to a wealthy family in 1898. His father, Cheslav Brodovitch, was a respected physician, psychiatrist and huntsman. His mother was an amateur painter. During the Russo-Japanese War, his family moved to Moscow where his father worked in a hospital for Japanese prisoners. Alexey was sent to study at the Prince Tenisheff School, a prestigious institution in St. Petersburg, with the intentions of eventually enrolling in the Imperial Art Academy. He had no formal training in art through his childhood, but often sketched noble profiles in the audience at concerts in the city.

At the start of World War I at the young age of 16, Brodovitch abandoned his dream of entering the Imperial Art Academy and ran away from home to join the Russian army. Not long after, his father had him brought home and hired a private tutor to help Alexey finish school. Upon graduating, Brodovitch ran away again on several occasions. The war tore Alexey’s family apart, but upon the ending of the war the family was reunited and the Brodovitch’s made their way to France. Upon arriving in Paris, Brodovitch wanted to be a painter. A Russian émigré in Paris, Brodovitch found himself poor and having to work for the first time in his life. He took a job painting houses, while his wife Nina worked as a seamstress. They lived in a cheap, small apartment in the area of Montparnasse, among other Russian artists who had settled in Paris at the end of the 19th century. This group of artists, including Archipenko, Chagall, and Nathan Altman, would meet at the inexpensive Académie Vassilieff, which offered painting and sculpting classes without an instructor.

On nights and weekends away from the Ballets Russes, Brodovitch began sketching designs for textiles, china, and jewelry. By the time his work for the ballet had finished, he had already compiled an extensive portfolio of these side projects and was selling his designs to fashionable shops. He gained public recognition for his work in the commercial arts by winning first prize in a poster competition for an artists' soiree called Le Bal Banal on March 24, 1924. After these wins, Brodovitch's career as an applied artist took off. In 1928 he was hired by Athélia (the design studio of a Parisian department store) to design and illustrate catalogues and advertisements for their luxury men's boutique. Although employed full-time by Athélia, Brodovitch offered his service as a freelance designer on the side, eventually working for Harper’s Bazaar from 1934 to 1958 as art director.

Throughout his career, he continued to teach. His “Design Laboratory,” which focused variously on illustration, graphic design and photography and on occasion were offered under the auspices of the AIGA, provided a system of rigorous critiques for those who aspired to magazine work. Today Brodovitch's legacy is remarkably rich. His layouts remain models of graphic intelligence and inspiration, even if seldom imitated, and the artists, photographers and designers whose careers he influenced continue to shape graphic design in the image of his uncompromising ideals.