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Is winter behind us?


There are a couple of items of note that might be of interest to members.

Alerted already on Twitter is something for those on the other side of the pond (or anyone who wants a good excuse to visit Manhattan). The Bard Graduate Center is hosting an exhibition entitled Jan Tschichold and the New Typography; Graphic Design between the World Wars until 7 July. There is a Curator's Spotlight Tour on 2 March as well as a couple of other events that look interesting for those who follow design during this period of history. Full details of the Center can be found on their website and the press release tells you everything you need to know about the Exhibition (and is extremely well put together so worth reading even if you cannot make the trip).

Returning to the UK, Insiders/Outsiders is a year long look at the contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to British culture. There are plenty of exhibitions, concerts, dance and theatre performances, film screenings, walks, lectures and literary events across the UK so a close look at the website is recommended.

Of particular Penguin linked interest is a Poster Parade Display at the London Transport Museum entitled Insiders/Outsiders: Émigré Poster Designers. It runs from 29 March – 27 June 2019 and features twenty posters celebrating four decades of the work of well-known designers such as Hans Schleger, Hans Unger and László Moholy-Nagy.

Hans Schleger was, of course, responsible for the Peregrine and Kestral
logos and the upright Penguins that we see on the Penguin Press and Education titles. Hans Unger designed some lovely covers (my favourite is on The Case of the Drowning Duck [1246] by Erle Stanley Gardner although The Penguin Handbook of First Aid [PH39] runs it a close second.) Unfortunately neither of these is on my shelves so my little teaser picture features Buddenbrooks [1214].

Starting on 2 March at the Isokon Gallery is George Adams – Bauhausler in Britain which will interest many of you; and from April, the National Portrait Gallery highlights portraits of or by artist-
émigrés from Nazi Europe.

There are a couple of blogs that you might find illuminating; first on Hans Schleger by the Eye Magazine and also Delicious Industries.

Then, on a past Hans Unger exhibition, which contains a variety of pictures – again from Eye Magazine.

Finally, as members will know, Steve Hare's Penguin collection is now on permanent loan at Oxford Brookes University. Their third annual Library Exhibition, which is running until mid-May, features items from the collection. The exhibition is spread throughout Headington Library and according to their website news includes the following displays:

   ‘In the beginning’ – examples of the early orange, green and blue Penguins on Level 4
   ‘Pufflings, peachicks and pups’ – a selection of children's books on Level 3
   ‘A growing menagerie’ – Pelicans, Peregrines, King Penguins and more on Level 2
   ‘Historical penguins’ – relating to the history of the publishing house on Level -1
   ‘Reader' picks’ – in the Special Collections Reading Room

The Exhibition is open to all.



Posted on Wednesday, 20th February 2019