Henry Wolf

Henry Wolf (May 23, 1925 - Feb 14, 2005) was an Austrian-born American graphic designer, photographer and art director best known for his art direction of "Esquire, Harper's Bazaar", and "Show" magazines in the 1950s and '60s.

Life and work

Henry Wolf was an influential graphic designer and art director."Encyclopædia Britannica", s.v. "Henry Wolf".] He worked with photographers Richard Avedon, Melvin Sokolsky and Art Kane before launching his own photography studio in New York's Upper East Side.

Wolf became art director of "Esquire" in 1952. His creative designs were influential in developing the sophisticated image the magazine is now known for.Fact|date=July 2008 In 1958, Wolf became the art director of "Harper's Bazaar," succeeding Alexey Brodovitch. At "Harper's" Wolf worked with Richard Avedon, and Man Ray. Wolf is also credited as having given the then up-and-coming fashion photographer Melvin Sokolsky his first big break. After three years at "Harper's Bazaar," Wolf left to start a new magazine, "Show" for A&P Heir Huntington Hartford.

In 1965 he began working for McCann Erickson where he directed high-profile ad campaigns such as Alka Seltzer, Buick, Gillette and Coca-Cola. Later he joined ad executive Jane Trahey to form Trahey/Wolf, with Wolf as the vice president and creative director. For the next few years he worked on many commercial campaigns, including Saks Fifth Avenue and I. Magnin, as well as advertisements for Xerox, IBM, Revlon, De Beers, Blackgama Mink, Charles of the Ritz, Elizabeth Arden, and Union Carbide. Heller, S: "Henry Wolf, Graphic Designer", "The New York Times," February 2005.vague ]

In 1971 he launched Henry Wolf Productions, a studio devoted to photography, film and design. For the next three decades, Wolf worked as both a photographer and a designer. He created over 500 television commercials and nine films, shooting for Van Cleef & Arpels, RCA, Revlon, Borghese, Olivetti and Karastan among others,. His work was published in many magazines, including "Esquire, Town and Country, Domus," and "New York."

He taught graphic design at Parsons School of Design in New York, as well as the School of Visual Arts and Cooper Union.

He died February 14, 2005 at his home in New York City, at age 80.

Awards

*The Medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts was awarded to Henry Wolf on October 12, 1976 for Lifetime Achievement
*Inducted in the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame and the Royal Society of Arts in 1980
*Received the Herb Lubalin Award from the Society of Publication Designers in 1989 [The Society of Publication Designers: Herb Lubalin Awardvague ]
*Awarded a Doctor of Fine Arts by Parsons School of Design in 1996 [Rourke, M., "Los Angeles Times," February 25, 2005]

Publications

*Wolf, Henry. "Visual Thinking: Methods for Making Images Memorable" (1988) *Wolf, Henry. "Photographed by Henry Wolf"
*Kane, Art. "Photography Book" (with introduction by Henry Wolf)
*AIG "Henry Wolf: A Retrospective" (1976)
*Clifton Smith, Ralph. "The Life & Work of Henry Wolf"

See also

*List of AIGA medalists

External links

* [http://www.commarts.com/CA/feapion/wolf/ Design Pioneers: Henry Wolf] (Communication Arts)
* [http://www.harpers.org/subjects/HenryWolf Harper's Magazine: Subjects: Henry Wolf]
* [http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000807846 In Memoriam: Henry Wolf, 80] Photo District News
* [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050226/news_1m26wolf.html Obituary: Henry Wolf; graphic designer and photographer; 79] (Sign on San Diego)

Notes