A-D Gallery

A-D Gallery Intro
A-D Gallery & Gallery 303 Exhibitions
A-D Gallery Lecture series and classes
Heritage of the Graphic Arts Lectures
Heritage of the Graphic Arts Images


The A-D Gallery & Lectures and Classes

As part of the educational mission of the A-D Gallery, Leslie often hosted or delivered classes on type design, graphic design, typesetting, and other graphic arts related material. These were classes delivered by designers and art directors of the day and some even by professors at Pratt or Cooper Union.

This is an incomplete list of as many courses as I was able to find and extract from press releases, PM and AD magazine announcements and flyers in the NYPL Archives.

Lectures and Classes List

1936
  • PM Instructional Talks - The Approach to 'Fine' Printing: Joseph Blumenthal of the Spiral Press
1937
1939
  • Fundamentals in the Practice of Typography: Eight Lectures by Robert L. Leslie for 2nd and 3rd year Pratt Institute students
  • Early Writing (lecture)
  • From Gutenberg to Goudy (lecture)
  • Hand Typesetting (practicum)
  • Mechanical Typesetting (lecture and demonstration)
  • Instruction in Machine Typesetting (practicum)
  • Advertising Typography (demonstration and practice)
  • Solving Production Problems (lecture) - guest lecturer Irving B. Simon
  • Art in Typography (lecture) - guest lecturer Herbert Bayer
1940
  • The work of Robert Josephy, Lester Beall, Will Burtin, Gustav Jensen, Herbert Matter, Ervine Metzl, and Paul Rand was given November 13
    Round-table discussion on graphic design. Josephy delivered an interesting talk on book design, stressing his belief that the personality of the designer should be kept out of his book. Dr. M. F. Agha, art director, Conde Nast Publications, served as moderator.
1947
  • Background For New Uses of Type: Six Lectures by Clayton Whitehill: January 14 - February 18 - 6 Tuesdays
  • Ten Talks on Type - October 7 - December 16
    A series of 10 type lectures held at the gallery, sponsored by the Type Directors Club
    • James M Secrest, type director GM Basford - The Origin and Development of the Printed Word
    • Arnold Bank, instructor Art Students League - Basic Letter Forms and Their Effect on Type Design
    • Eugene M. Ettenberg, Manager Gallery Press, Instructor Pratt Institute - How to Identify Type Faces
    • Charles Felton, Layout Specialist Kurt Volk, Inc. - Making Practical Typographic Layouts
    • Milton Zudeck, Type Director McCann-Erickson, Inc. - The Type Director in the Advertising Agency
    • O. Alfred Dickman, Advertising Production Manager, NY Herald Tribune - Typography in Newspapers
    • Joseph Weiler, Production Editor, American Book Co. - Typography in Books
    • Frank E. Powers, Type Director J. Walter Thompson - Do's and Don'ts of Typography
  • Hal Zamboni, Art Director consultant - The Modern Approach to Typography
  • NYU/AIGA sponsored lecture: An Introduction to Book, Magazine, and Advertising Production - What Goes on in the Composing Room - Robert Leslie
1955
  • Graphic Arts Forum: The Job Outlook for Artists - Current Employment in the Graphic Arts Fields - Moderated by Dr. Robert L. Leslie.
    Speakers: Edith Chatten, Frank Bowling, Mary Campbell, Henry Price, Caroline Fleischer - all job placement personnel specializing in advertising, art direction, art and production roles
1959
  • 10 Lectures: Typography in Visual Communication by Arnold Shaw, October 8 - December 17 - Ten Thursdays
1960
  • An Evening with Art Kane: February 16
  • Typographic Union #6 lectures "500 Years of Printing"
1963
  • Cocktail party to honor Jack Biegeleisen author Art Directors' Work Book of Type Faces
  • Ernst Reichl - Book Design Lectures: February 7 - March 13
1965
  • Simplified Lettering and Calligraphy - Five sessions starting February 1965
  • Dimensional graphics with P.K. Thomajan - Five Thursday starting March 4, 1965
1966
  • Sound Design Lecture: with Tony Schwartz - November 29
1968
  • Two Evenings with Eugene M. Ettenberg: March 18 & 25, 1968
  • Photo-Composition classes with tours - March 1968
  • Rare Jazz Film from Erinie Smith's private collection - showing April 26, 1968
  • Part 2 - Jazz Films - November 21st
  • Legibility and Impact, lecture by Dr. Bror Zachrisson, introduced by Eugene Ettenberg, December 9, 1968
1970
  • Moog Synthesizer demonstration: May 7
  • Bermand? Bryon? Shahn lecture November 18
1971
  • Reception for artists, designers, and production supervisors selected for the AIGA Eleventh Annual Children's Book Show. April 29


A-D Gallery Keepsakes

Advance Guard
Lester Beall
Gergely / Barschel
Book Artists Guild Exhibit #1
Book Artists Guild Exhibit #4
Will Burtin
Jim Flora
Morton Goldsholl
Lettering & Calligraphy
Alvin Lustig
Alex Steinweiss
Ladislav Sutnar
Young Talent
Hal Zamboni


Gallery 303 Keepsakes

Morgan Press
George Salter
Anton Stankowski
Georg Trump