Alexander Girard – Works on Paper.

The Magic of a People | Poster, 1968
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)
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Twentieth century New Mexico architect and designer Alexander “Sandro” Girard (1907–1993) is best known for his bold and playful, folk art-inspired textile work for Herman Miller; that is if you are familiar with this lesser known design star. Born in NYC to an American mother and French-Italian father, Girard was raised in Italy where he graduated from the Royal School of Architecture in Rome.

Fellow graphic designers may know Mr. Girard from his iconic mid-60s re-branding of Braniff International Airways—officially “the end of the plain plane”—where he designed a staggering 17,000+ items for the airline; everything from the textiles to the matchbook covers to sugar packets to travel language cue cards to the ticket counters to the color of the planes themselves. However less has been published about Girard’s poster designs. An internet search uncovered only a spattering of his print works. Fortunately being a former resident of New Mexico I knew who might be able to help, Albuquerque-based máXimo—the official agent to the Girard Estate.

The máXimo company has worked to re-introduce Girard designs to the contemporary marketplace since 2000 via strategic partnership with companies such as Chronicle Books and Vitra; in addition to introducing new works informed by Girard such as the fantastic Girard product line at House Industries.

If you are a Girard fan then I encourage you to join their mailing list to receive information about new products, special sales, upcoming events, etc.

Many thanks to máXimo’s Sarah Sheesley for sending me these terrific Girard poster images for this print-centric post. Keep scrolling to see and learn more…

Clean Up Our Land | Poster, 1970
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

The Girard Collection | Museum of International Folk Art – Santa Fe, New Mexico
Poster, ca. 1978-1981
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

Sarah informed me the original design is a large plexiglass movable sculpture that originally stood at the entrance of the exhibit.

Exhibition of African Fabrics | Museum of International Folk Art – Santa Fe, New Mexico
Poster, 1974
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

59 | New Fabrics designed by Alexander Girard for the Herman Miller Collection
Poster, 1955
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

The Nativity | An International Exhibition of Folk Art Celebrating the Birth of Jesus
Poster, 1962
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

Table Setting | by Alexander Girard for Georg Jensen
Poster, 1956
(image courtesy of máXimo: art & design research)

In 1956, Just Lunning, president of Georg Jensen, commissioned Girard to design seven table settings for an exhibition on 5th Avenue in New York. Each setting was created around a vignette outlining the personalities and situations of the company at the particular table. He created place mats and dishes specific to the project. –Wikipedia

[ All designs copyright Alexander Girard © ]
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(photos courtesy of Museum of International Folk Art)

Amongst the poster works highlighted on up above you see reference to Girard’s folk art collection and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. When guests came to visit me, a trip to the Girard Wing at the MoIFA was “required” tourism and always inspired awe.

Over the years, beginning on their honeymoon trip to Mexico in 1939, Mr. Girard and his wife Susan amassed a vast—in fact the largest cross-cultural folk art collection in the world totaling more than 100,000 works. 10,000+ of those items are on view permanently at the museum. The massive exhibit in the museum’s Girard Wing, Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, was designed by Mr. Girard himself. It opened in 1982 and includes toys, costumes, masks, textiles, nativities and other religious icons, paintings and more.

Objects were selected for their beauty, humor, whimsy, enthusiasm, spontaneity and directness and they illustrate humankind’s universal need to give form to a sense of ornament, play, delight, and wonder. The Girard collection of more than 100,000 objects is unique in part because of its size: intentional multiples in the collection resulted in a great depth to the holdings in many village traditions that are represented only superficially in other collections that contain similar material. The breadth is also staggering: more than 100 countries on six continents are represented. –Museum of International Folk Art

If you find yourself in Santa Fe or frankly anywhere close in northern New Mexico, I urge you to take in this exhibit and the other fine exhibits at the MoIFA. You will not be disappointed.
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For further reading about Alexander Girard’s legacy:
>> máXimo
>> Herman Miller
>> Dwell
>> Wikipedia
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“Art is only art when it is synonymous with living.”
–Alexander Girard
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Tagged as: Alexander Girard, bold, graphic design, Illustration, lettering, mid century modern, posters, Vintage, whimsical, works on paper