Mildred Constantine
Encyclopedia
Mildred Constantine Bettelheim (1913 – December 10, 2008) was an American
curator
who helped bring attention to the posters and other graphic design
in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art
in the 1950s and 1960s
Constantine (she used her maiden name professionally) was born in 1913 in Brooklyn
, New York
. She received bachelor's and masters degrees from New York University
and attended the graduate school of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
.
She worked for the College Art Association
from 1931 to 1937 as an editorial assistant on the journal Parnassus. She met Rene d'Harnoncourt
, her future boss as director of the Museum of Modern Art, while she was working at the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
.
She traveled to Mexico
in 1936 as part of the leftist Committee Against War and Fascism, where she developed an interest Latin and Central American political graphics. A Latin American poster collection she organized was shown at the Library of Congress
and became part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
's permanent collection.
From 1943 through 1970, Constantine worked in the architecture and design department of the Museum of Modern Art, as associate curator and later as curatorial consultant, where she helped popularize collections that were hard to categorize or had been ignored, which she called "fugitive material". Her 1948 exhibition Polio Posters was the museum's first devoted to causes, and included works she commissioned to help spread awareness of various social issues.
She organized solo exhibitions for graphic
and product design
ers including Alvin Lustig
, Bruno Munari
, Massimo Vignelli
and Tadanori Yokoo
that were described by The New York Times
as "career-defining". Her broader-themed exhibitions in the applied and decorative arts included Olivetti: Design in Industry in 1952, Signs in the Street in 1954 and the 1962 exhibit of Lettering by Hand.
Constantine organized the 1968 exhibition titled Word and Image, which was the first exhibition to focus on the posters in the museum's collection from the 20th century, and whose catalog is considered a major element documenting the history of the poster. In his January 1968 review of the exhibit, art critic John Canaday
of The New York Times opened noting that
's review in The Times, described the exhibit as consisting of 300 posters from the period from 1879 to 1967, chosen by Constantine based on their "esthetic merit", though Kramer felt that the exhibit could not explain the late-1960s poster fad whose psychedelic designs he believed were no match for the graphic masterpieces of earlier days.
Following her 1971 departure from the Museum of Modern Art, she produced exhibitions and books on the subjects of caricature, cartoons, decorative arts and photography, including here work as curator of the 1988 Frontiers in Fiber: The Americans and the 2002 exhibit Small Works in Fiber, both of which drew attention to textile
and fiber art
Constantine died at age 95 on December 10, 2008 of heart failure in her home in Nyack, New York
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
who helped bring attention to the posters and other graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in the 1950s and 1960s
Constantine (she used her maiden name professionally) was born in 1913 in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She received bachelor's and masters degrees from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and attended the graduate school of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...
.
She worked for the College Art Association
College Art Association
The College Art Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for practitioners and scholars of art, art history, and art criticism...
from 1931 to 1937 as an editorial assistant on the journal Parnassus. She met Rene d'Harnoncourt
Rene d'Harnoncourt
Rene d'Harnoncourt was an art curator, and a Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 1949 to 1967....
, her future boss as director of the Museum of Modern Art, while she was working at the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
The Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs was a United States agency promoting inter-American cooperation during the 1940s, especially in commercial and economic areas...
.
She traveled to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1936 as part of the leftist Committee Against War and Fascism, where she developed an interest Latin and Central American political graphics. A Latin American poster collection she organized was shown at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and became part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
's permanent collection.
From 1943 through 1970, Constantine worked in the architecture and design department of the Museum of Modern Art, as associate curator and later as curatorial consultant, where she helped popularize collections that were hard to categorize or had been ignored, which she called "fugitive material". Her 1948 exhibition Polio Posters was the museum's first devoted to causes, and included works she commissioned to help spread awareness of various social issues.
She organized solo exhibitions for graphic
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and product design
Product design
-Introduction:Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business or enterprise to its customers. It is concerned with the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products.Product designers conceptualize and...
ers including Alvin Lustig
Alvin Lustig
Alvin Lustig was an American graphic designer and typeface designer. He studied at Los Angeles City College, Art Center, and independently with Frank Lloyd Wright and Jean Charlot. He began designing for books in 1937. In 1944 he became Director of Visual Research for Look Magazine. He also...
, Bruno Munari
Bruno Munari
Bruno Munari was an Italian artist and designer, who contributed fundamentals to many fields of visual arts and non visual arts with his research on games, didactic method and creativity.-Biography:Bruno Munari was born in Milan but spent his...
, Massimo Vignelli
Massimo Vignelli
Massimo Vignelli is a designer who has done work in a number of areas ranging from package design to furniture design to public signage to showroom design through Vignelli Associates, which he co-founded with his wife, Lella...
and Tadanori Yokoo
Tadanori Yokoo
is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter.Tadanori Yokoo, born in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, in 1936, is one of Japan's most successful and internationally recognized graphic designers and artists. He began his career as a stage designer for avant garde theatre in...
that were described by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "career-defining". Her broader-themed exhibitions in the applied and decorative arts included Olivetti: Design in Industry in 1952, Signs in the Street in 1954 and the 1962 exhibit of Lettering by Hand.
Constantine organized the 1968 exhibition titled Word and Image, which was the first exhibition to focus on the posters in the museum's collection from the 20th century, and whose catalog is considered a major element documenting the history of the poster. In his January 1968 review of the exhibit, art critic John Canaday
John Canaday
John Edwin Canaday was a leading American art critic, author and art historian.-Early life:...
of The New York Times opened noting that
"the Museum of Modern Art's new exhibition of posters, which opened yesterday under the title Word and Image, is so handsome that for a minute you wonder why billboards are disfigurements", noting that the museum had held 35 prior poster exhibitions but that this was its most comprehensive and that while most posters look dated after a few years, the items Constantine selected from the museum's collection of 2,000 posters "are as forceful as when they were issued."Critic Hilton Kramer
Hilton Kramer
Hilton Kramer is a U.S. art critic and cultural commentator.Kramer was educated at Syracuse University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Indiana University and the New School for Social Research. He worked as the editor of Arts Magazine, art critic for The Nation, and from 1965 to 1982,...
's review in The Times, described the exhibit as consisting of 300 posters from the period from 1879 to 1967, chosen by Constantine based on their "esthetic merit", though Kramer felt that the exhibit could not explain the late-1960s poster fad whose psychedelic designs he believed were no match for the graphic masterpieces of earlier days.
Following her 1971 departure from the Museum of Modern Art, she produced exhibitions and books on the subjects of caricature, cartoons, decorative arts and photography, including here work as curator of the 1988 Frontiers in Fiber: The Americans and the 2002 exhibit Small Works in Fiber, both of which drew attention to textile
Textile arts
Textile arts are those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization, and the methods and materials used to make them have expanded enormously, while...
and fiber art
Fiber art
Fiber art is a style of fine art which uses textiles such as fabric, yarn, and natural and synthetic fibers. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour involved as part of its significance.-Fiber:...
Constantine died at age 95 on December 10, 2008 of heart failure in her home in Nyack, New York
Nyack, New York
Nyack is a village in the towns of Orangetown and Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of South Nyack; east of Central Nyack; south of Upper Nyack and west of the Hudson River, approximately 19 miles north of the Manhattan boundary, it is an inner suburb of New...
.