Arcana:

(ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN). Art Center School Staff. Los Angeles: The Art Center School, 1941. First Edition. Oblong 8vo. Spiral-Bound Illustrated Wraps. Educational Course Catalogue. Near Fine.. 72pp, profusely illustrated in duotone and b&w. Designed by students of The Art Center School with Harvey Thompson. In a protective clear acetate dustwrapper. This is the exceedingly stylishly designed catalogue of the 1941 academic offerings for Los Angeles' Art Center School. Founded in 1930, the renowned institution was one of Southern California's first comprehensive Art colleges. It relocated in 1976 to Pasadena, and became known as Art Center College of Design. Specializing in trade-oriented educational programs for students seeking careers in painting and illustration, advertising and graphic design, architecture, photography, motion picture craft, and industrial and automotive design, their faculty has always featured a stellar collection of professionals in these fields. Included here are Ansel Adams, Edward A, Adams, Fred R. Archer, Earl Baird, Lionel Banks, Edward Biberman, Clarence Bull, Will Connell, Thomas S. Curtis, Fred Dapprich, J.R. Davidson, James Doolittle, Paul Dorsey, Clarence K. Eaton, Elizabeth Franklin, Harwell Hamilton Harris, Frank Hewlett, Franklin B. Judson, Edward B. Kaminsky, Gordon B. Kaufmann, Charles Kerlee, Donald Biddle Keyes, Albert King, Nina Novinska, Charles Potts, R.M. Schindler, A.B. Shore, Chalmers C. Smith, Kem Weber, and many others. Designed by students and faculty in a modernist style reminiscent of the work of Lester Beall and Alvin Lustig, its eye-catching layout features numerous striking photomontages combining photography, illustration, and typography. An exceptionally bright, most handsome example of this exceedingly uncommon design object NUMBERED 598 (of an unstated edition) bearing the school's printed designation "This Book Presented to" followed by "Grace Mallon" in blue ink, as issued. Grace Elizabeth Mallon was an Art Center School student who went on to a career as a fine artist in the mold of her mentor, Millard Sheets, as well as working for Walt Disney, Universal Studios, Fairbanks Films, Churchill-Wexler Films, and Hanna-Barbera Studios. She participated in San Francisco's 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition and is included in Milton Edan Hughes' comprehensive reference work "Artists in California 1786-1940." Inventory Number: 025945