Mason Klein – författare

A fascinating exploration of how photography, graphic design, and popular magazines converged to transform American visual culture at mid-centuryThis dynamic study examines the intersection of modernist photography and American commercial graphic design between 1930 and 1960. Avant-garde strategies in photography and design reached the United States via European émigrés, including Bauhaus artists forced out of Nazi Germany. The unmistakable aesthetic made popular by such magazines as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue—whose art directors, Alexey Brodovitch and Alexander Liberman, were both immigrants and accomplished photographers—emerged from a distinctly American combination of innovation, inclusiveness, and pragmatism.  Beautifully illustrated with more than 150 revolutionary photographs, layouts, and cover designs, Modern Look considers the connections and mutual influences of such designers and photographers as Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman, Herbert Bayer, Robert Frank, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Cipe Pineles, and Paul Rand. Essays draw a lineage from European experimental design to innovative work in American magazine design at mid-century and offer insights into the role of gender in fashion photography and political activism in the mass media.Published in association with the Jewish Museum, New YorkExhibition Schedule:Jewish Museum, New York(April 2–July 11, 2021)

A new perspective on renowned twentieth-century artist Paul Klee, revealing his enduring creativity in the face of darkness by foregrounding his lesser-known late work  Celebrated for his colorful, fantastical paintings, Paul Klee (1879–1940), a pioneer of modernism and expressionism, is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Though he is remembered for the chromatic style of his most famous works, Klee’s late work reflects a dark and dramatic transformation, providing insight into the artist’s psychological landscape.  Forced to flee Nazi persecution in 1933, Klee faced final years that were marked by exile, illness, and political upheaval. Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds takes the unsettling last decade of Klee’s life as its subject, arguing that he accepted his vulnerability as a strength—one that enabled him to develop a personal rebuff of fascism through a lexicon of abstraction. With 120 illustrations highlighting works from throughout Klee’s career, this catalog traces the evolution of his artistic practice and frames his late work in the context of his oeuvre. Essays by leading scholars and curators reexamine Klee’s legacy and the importance of his late masterpieces as an artistic defiance against oppression.  Published in association with the Jewish Museum, New York  Exhibition Schedule:  Jewish Museum, New York(May–July 2026)