With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Alvin Eisenman
Architecture/Design, Education/Curation
1921 – 2013
Eisenman was the first director of the Yale Graphic Design graduate program. As noted by the New York Times in 2013, ‘Emphasizing a holistic approach, Mr. Eisenman believed that students should learn about all aspects of a craft. In a class on book design, for example, they learned paper making, book binding and printing methods.’
- Biography/Description of Work
Alvin Eisenman was born in 1921 in Pennsylvania. He studied art at Dartmouth College and under poet Robert Frost. During World War II, he joined the Army Signal Corps and designed field manuals. Afterwards he designed books for McGraw-Hill and Yale University Press. In 1951, he became the first director of Yale’s graphic design program for graduate students; at the time, this was the first program of its kind in the United States. Eisenman recruited design masters such as Alvin Lustig and Herbert Matter to teach. He retired as director in 1990 but continued to teach.
- Sources view
- http://www.connecticutbarns.org/index.cgi/4995; Slotnik, Daniel E., 'Alvin Eisenman, Graphic Design Educator, Dies at 92,' New York Times, September 10, 2013, accessed 12/1/2015 at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/nyregion/alvin-eisenman-graphic-design-educator-dies-at-92.html?_r=0.
- Associated Resource(s)