Project brief: In mounting a museum-quality exhibition of Alexander Calder and Yves Tanguy, the gallery wanted a book that would contribute significantly to the understanding of both artists and their historical overlap while giving equal weight to each.

Approach: The brief for the project began as the book does, with the story of Peggy Guggenheim wearing two earrings—one by Calder and one by Tanguy—to show her passion for both abstraction and surrealism on the night of the opening of her now-famous gallery, Art of This Century. We worked with our clients’ exhibition staff to research and visually edit the historical material, direct new photography when needed and lay out the catalogue. High production values and fine materials, including heavy Crane cotton paper, were used with restraint to illuminate the incredible work and friendship of these two men and the art-historical importance of the curatorial concept.

Effectiveness: Our client considered this book an enormous success, so much so that they pursued a second printing without sacrificing material quality when it became clear that the first printing would sell out. This is the first second printing of any publication in the gallery’s history. For us, we are most proud of the typographic detailing on the cover, which evokes the work of Calder and Tanguy while mimicking neither.

A gorgeous book with exceptional typography. The beautiful customized type carries through the book exceptionally well. Nice use of white space for the image selections. The die-cut pages are impressive.