Avant-Garde (magazine)  

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Avant Garde was a magazine notable for graphic and logogram design by Herb Lubalin. The magazine had 14 issues and was published from January 1968 to July 1971.

The editor was Ralph Ginzburg.

Avant Garde 3 published in May 1968 lists in the masthead

"Peter Schjeldahl as Features Editor, Leslie M. Rockwell as Articles Editor, Lawrence Witchel, Executive Editor, L. Ransom Burton, Copy Editor, Rosemary Latimore, Research Director, Art Whitman, Production Director, Miriam Fier, Business Director, Paul Finegold handled circulation, Advertising was managed by Richard Stoneman, and Shoshanna Ginzburg was Promotion Director."

From January, 1968, through July, 1971, Ginzburg published Avant Garde. While it could not be termed obscene, it was filled with creative imagery often caustically critical of American society and government, sexual themes, and (for the time) crude language. One cover featured a naked pregnant woman; another had a parody of Willard's famous patriotic painting, "The Spirit of '76", with a woman and a black man.

Avant Garde had a modest circulation but was extremely popular in certain circles, including New York’s advertising and editorial art directors.[7] Herbert F. Lubalin (1918–1981), a post-modern design guru, was Ginzburg's collaborator on his four best-known magazines, including Avant Garde, which gave birth to a well-known typeface of the same name. It was originally intended primarily for use in logos: the first version consisted solely of 26 capital letters. It was inspired by Ginzburg and his wife, designed by Lubalin, and realized by Lubalin's assistants and Tom Carnese, one of Lubalin's partners. It is characterized by geometrically perfect round strokes; short, straight lines; and an extremely large number of kerned ligatures. The International Typeface Corporation (ITC) (of which Lubalin was a founder) released a full version in 1970.

An article on folk music written by United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas was a topic in the congressional hearings on his attempted impeachment in 1970.

List of issues[1]

VOLUME 1

January 1968

Contents

• What Makes Nixon Run by Warren Boroson
• Galahad's Pad by Julio Mitchel
• The Hate Mail of Captain Levy
• Let's Retire our most Overworked Four-letter Word by Professor L. Eric Hotaling
• Richard Lindner: The Rubens of the Love Generation
• The Slaughter of Civilians for Sport by U.S. Pilots by First Lietenant Thomas F. Loflin II
• An Obscenity Bust in-Would You Believe?-India by Malay Roy Choudhury
• Drawings by Muhammad Ali
• "Believe in God: You Have Teeth" by S.H. Margalith
• The Fugs: Nextness is Godlier than Cleanliness by Martin Cohen
• Metamorphic Jewelry: The Last Word in Found-Object Art Photographs by Ryszrd Horowitz
• God Love Poem by Lenore Kandel
• "Ice" By Richard L Lindner (Cover)

VOLUME 2 (Marilyn Monroe)

March 1968

Contents

• The Marilyn Monroe Trip - A Portfolio of Serigraphs by Bert Stein
• Walter Bowart: Mild-Mannered Editor by Tom Hyman
• Prof. Einstein to Dr. Freud: "Can We Eliminate War?"
• The Passion of Norman F. Dace by Norman F. Dacey
• Orphan of the Flood by Mitchell Wojtycki
• The Erotic Tomb Sculptures of Madagascar Photographs by Sarajane Archdeacon
• "Avant Garde's" No More War!" Poster Contest
• Peace Movement by Gary Youree
• Picasso: The Artist as an Eternally Young Man by Brian Fitzherbert
• The Visitor by Roald Dahl

VOLUME 3 (Revamping the Dollar)

May 1968

Contents

• Revaluation of the Dollar - 19 Artists Design a New Dollar Bill
• Paul Krassner: Apostle of the Put-on by Fred Powledge
• Andy's Girls Photographs by Lee Kraf
• "Was it Good for You, Too?" by Dan Greenburg
• The Future of Criminal Law by Karl Menninger, M.D.
• The First Church of Love
• The Taming of Denise Gondelman by Norman Mailer
• Astrological Automobiles Drawings by Francois Dallegret
• Prolegomena to a Study of the Erotic Film by Frank A. Hoffmann
• Mr. and Mrs. Brown go Walking Photographs by Julio Mitchel
• The Prison Poems of Ho Chi Minh Introduction and Translation by Kenneth Rexroth
• Avant-Garde's "No More War!" Poster Contest
• Dollar Bill Designs on Cover by Tom Carnese, Gerry Gersten and Herb Lubalin

VOLUME IV

September 1968

Contents

• Front Lines Letters to the Editor
• Amnesty Now
• Playhouse of the Ridiculous Photographs by Eliot Elisofon
• WBAI: Switched-on Radio by Fred Powledge
• Poetry by Computer
• Leroi Jones: Poet Laureate of the Black Revolt by Peter Schjeldah
• The Strange World of George Tooker
• Voodoo Lives! Photographs by Lee Kraft
• Please Don't Kill Anything by Arthur Miller
• The Battle Hymn of Jeffrey Weinper by PFC Jeffrey Weinper
• I Remember superman by Francesca Milano
• '69: A Great Year Any Way You Look at It Photographs by Horn/Griner

VOLUME V

November 1968

Contents

• Front Lines
• Letters to the Editor
• "No More War!" Posters
• In the White House Doghouse by Ralph Schoenstein
• On the Psychology of the World Order by Jerome Frank M.D.
• Tom Wesselman: Pleasure Painter
• The Sears Catalogue: A Book Review by Eric Hotaling
• Son of "Hair" Photographs by Roger Denim
• Ron Cobb: Daumier of the New Left
• The Honorable Discharge of Pvt. Sam by Gary Youree
• Living High on the Hog Farm Photographs by Julian Wasser
• Brain Damage: Sorcery as Art Photogrpahs by Ira Cohen and Bill Deovre
• Seascape #17 by Tom Wesselman (Cover)

VOLUME 6

January 1969

Contents

• In Full Bloom (Cover) Photograph by Dewayne Dalrymple
• Front Lines
• Letters to the Editor
• And Now: The Evolution Revolution by R. Michael Davidson
• Melle's Melees
• Breaking Out: A Black Manifesto by Dick Gregory
• Tomorrow's Classics by Leslie M. Pockell
• Phil Ochs: Kipling of the New Left by Peter Schjeldahl
• The President's Golden Zipper by Fred Rayfield
• The Sexual Revolution: A Running Commentary Photographs by Ralph M. Hattersely Jr.
• Sylvan Hart is Alive and Well in the Wilderness by J. Randal
• My Father-To-Be-Ness and You by Robert Joe Stout
• The Last Act by Roald Dahl
• Gas Over Madison Avenue by Gordon Carlson

VOLUME 7

March 1969

Contents

• "The Spirit of 1976" (Cover) Photograph by Carl Fischer
• Front Lines
• Toward a New Spirit of '76 Compiled by Leslie M. Pockell
• The Decline and Fall of the Female Breast by Warren Boroson
• Appeal of Folk Singing: A Landmark Opinion by Justice William O. Douglas
• The Black Power Failure by James R. Schofield
• Paul Wunderlich's Painted Women
• Thoughts of Chairman Jerry by Peter Schjeldahl
• The Satyricon of a Petronius: A New Take by Edgar A. Bunning
• Sculpture A La Rorschach Photographs by William Watkins
• Pennebaker: truth at 24 Frames Per Second by Hal J. Seldes
• O Precious Balls, Farewell! by Jean Gent
• The Demise of Death by R. Michael Davidson
• Pussy Galore! Cat Drawings of Guy Bourdin

VOLUME 8 (Picasso's Erotic Gravures)

September 1969

Contents

• Introduction
• The Artist and His Model
• The Circus
• The Brothel
• The Voyeur
• The Muses
• The Orgy

VOLUME 9

November 1969

Contents

• Front Lines
• Letters to the Editor
• America in Distress by Nobel Laureate George Wald
• Fuch's Femmes Fatales
• The Defense of Adolescents by Warren Boroson
• Deserted Island Photographs by Wilton S. Tifft
• Convention: A Play by Dan Greenburg
• John & Yoko in Concert by Irma Kurtz
• She Stoops to Conquer Photographs by Gunter Rambow
• Is the Red Cross Pro-Nazi? by Warren Boroson
• Beasts in Love: Three Poems by D. H. Lawrence
• Jews, Catholics, and Protestants Compared by Warner Brown
• Ultra Violet in Infra-Red photographs by Eliot Elisofon
• Samson and the Harlot in Gaza (Cover) by Ernst Fuchs

VOLUME 10

January 1970

Contents

• Heliotrope (Cover) by Thomas Weir
• Letters to the Editor
• The Dr. Who Called the A.M.A. The "American Murder Assn." by Warner Brown
• The Most Hated Man in America by Leslie M. Pockell
• The Virgin Forest Photographs by Thomas Weir
• The Handwriting on the Wall by Warren Boroson
• Democracy by Telephone by Vincent Campbell
• Israel Captured Photographs Compiled by Cornell Capa
• Hundertwasser: Postcards from Pandemonium
• The Bigger they Are, The Harder I Fall by Max Hess

VOLUME 11 (Wedded Bliss: A Portfolio of Erotic Lithographs by John Lennon)

March 1970

Contents

• Lotus (Cover) Lithograph by John Lennon
• Front Lines
• Letters to The Editor
• Wedded Bliss: A Portfolio of Erotic Lithographs by John Lennon
• The Sins of Their Fathers Compiled by Diane E. Bente
• The Case for Extending the School Year by Warren Boroson
• Gustav Klimt: Lost and Found
• Coming: Molecular Mastery of the Brain by David M. Rorvick
• A Day for a Lay by W. H. Auden
• The World's Most Powerful Critic by Ted Townsend
• Oragenitalism: A Book Review by Anatole Lerer
• The Silent Majority Photographs by Julio Mitchel
• Wasted Yen by Ralph Schoenstein
• Thalidomide, Cyclamates, and Now. . .Caffeine? by Warner Brown
• Behind the Lines by Jeanne Devires

VOLUME 12

May 1970

Contents

• Front Lines
• Dial-A-Hawk: A Ringing New Form of Antiwar Protest
• Laid on Fire Island by Gary Youree
• The Mystery of Jorgen Boberg
• The Second Most Hated Johnson in America by Warren Boroson
• Bell's Belles Photographs by Hugh Bell
• The Gang-Bang on the Underground Press
• Why "Hair" Has Become a Four Letter Word by Warner Brown
• Jack the Raper Third in a Series Entitled "The Lust Battalion"
• Letters to the Editor

VOLUME 13 (Portraits of the American People)

Spring 1971

Contents

Special Issue: Photographs by Alwyn Scott Turner

VOLUME 14

Summer 1971

Contents

• Hommage à l'Ecole de Fontainebleau (COVER) by Lambert Wintersberger
• Letters to the Editor
• The Sexual Symbolism of the American Flag by Warner Brown
• High Times Photographs by Mary Ellen Mark
• "The Machine I Hate the Most" Compiled by Dorothy Bates
• Madness to His Method Paintings by Dieter Schwertberger
• Strong Medicine by Warren Boroson
• Concerning the Mais of Brobdingnag by Lemuel Gulliver (as told to M. S. Winecoff)
• Way out Westbeth Photographs by Leonard Freed
• On the Septuaquinquennia of Psychoanalysis by Frederick L. Boyle
• Belles-Lettres by Anna and Anthon Beeke, Peter Brattinga, Ed Van Der Elsken, and Geert Kooiman
• Unwinding in London by Seymour Krim

Notable covers

• Seascape #17 (Two Tits) (1966). Oil on canvas. 60" x 72" by Tom Wesselmann (cover of issue 5).
• Hommage à l'Ecole de Fontainebleau (1967) by Lambert Maria Wintersberger (cover of issue 14).

See also

• Ralph Ginzburg
• Eros and pop art