Readymag Stories: Alexander Liberman

born in Kiev

works at Vu magazine, Paris

Untitled painting by Alexander Liberman. A red triangle pointed down

Untitled painting by Alexander Liberman, 1968. Oil on canvas. © Alexander Liberman Estate. Courtesy of Vallarino Fine Art.

wins a Gold Medal at the Paris International Exhibition for a magazine design presentation

An afternoon at the Libermans’, 1963. Left to right: Sylvia Sleigh, Robert Motherwell, Annalee Newman, Alexander Liberman. Alexander Liberman photography archive. Series I. Artists and personalities, circa 1925 – circa 1995. © The J. Paul Getty Trust.

emigrates to the U.S.

Vogue cover, May 1941. A female gymnast performing with a ball

art director at Vogue

Vogue cover, May 1941. Cover image by Horst P. Horst.

publishes The Artist in his Studio book

editorial director of Condé Nast Publications

An afternoon at the Libermans’, 1963. Left to right: Lawrence Alloway, Beatrice Leval, Barnett Newman, Alexander Liberman, Sylvia Sleigh, Robert Motherwell, and Annalee Newman. Liberman’s ever-present Leica camera is on the table. Alexander Liberman photography archive. Series I. Artists and personalities, circa 1925 – circa 1995. © The J. Paul Getty Trust.

dies in Miami, Florida, aged 87

i was very much impressed by the visual impact of the revolution. all the great marches through the nevsky prospect [in st. petersburg, russia] with red banners, gigantic red banners.
—alexander liberman on his earliest childhood memories in an interview with the bomb magazine.

Orb XIV painting by Alexander Liberman, 1967. Oil on canvas, 60 × 45 inches. © Alexander Liberman Estate. Courtesy of Vallarino Fine Art.

Abstraction V painting by Alexander Liberman, 1964. Lithograph on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase.

Untitled painting by Alexander Liberman, 1966. Color lithograph on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase.

early years

Alexander Liberman was born in 1912 in Kiev into the family of rich timber merchant Simon Liberman and theatrical actress Henrietta Pascar. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Simon took a post of economic advisor at the Soviet government and sent his son to an English boarding school. “If you can survive that, you can conquer anything,” Alexander would recall of this period. Then he moved to Paris to study mathematics, architecture, philosophy, and painting.

Equipoise by Alexander Liberman, 1967. Steel. Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the artist.

Abstraction V painting by Alexander Liberman, 1964. Lithograph on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase.

Untitled painting by Alexander Liberman, 1966. Color lithograph on paper. Smithsonian American Art Museum, museum purchase.

all art is solitary and the studio is a torture area. —alexander liberman

Alexander Liberman stands in his studio with a recent work of welded and painted steel. Photo via Getty Images.

formative time

Liberman’s early work life in France was diverse: he designed stage sets, briefly worked as an illustrator, and assisted to poster designer Cassandre. Aged eighteen, Alexander started his publishing career with VU, one of the world’s first illustrated periodicals. There he collaborated with renowned photographers, including Brassaï, Man Ray, and Robert Capa. Eventually, Alexander rose to managing director at Vu, but left it in 1936.

VU magazine cover, March 1933. The cover features End of Civilization photomontage by Marcel Ichac under the art direction of Alexander Liberman.

A spread of Vu magazine, featuring Drunkenness of Movement photo essay.

Vu magazine cover, September 1933.

Vu magazine cover. A French flag with a female statue

Vu magazine cover. Le Marathon Du Baiser

Vu magazine cover, December 1934.

Vu magazine cover, July 1930.

i think the term “art director” is the greatest misnomer. there’s no art in magazines unless you are reproducing works of art. —alexander liberman

Vogue Magazine Staff standing at Vogue Office at Place du Palais-Bourbon, Paris, 1950. From left to right: Alexander Liberman, Nina LeClerc, Michel DeBrunhof, Edna Woolman Chase, Iva Patcevitch, Thomas Kernan, Despina Messinesi, Peggy Riley. Photo by Donald Honeyman / Condé Nast via Getty Images.