The January 1936 cover of *Harper’s Bazaar,* where Alexey Brodovitch was art director from 1934 to 1958.

From Hussar to Bazaar

An exhibition in Philadelphia honors the graphic designer Alexey Brodovitch, who went from serving in a Russian hussar regiment to being art director at Harper’s Bazaar, where he mentored photographers such as Irving Penn

By Patricia Zohn

Not many could begin their career as a White Russian hussar astride a horse, serving in Romania, and finish as the very first art director of Harper’s Bazaar, in New York City. But Alexey Brodovitch, born in 1898, never wanted for imagination. Opening tomorrow at the Barnes Foundation, in Philadelphia, “Alexey Brodovitch: Astonish Me” revisits this pioneer of graphic design and photography, whose avant-garde vision is immortalized in the 1957 film Funny Face (with the character of Dovitch). The exhibition aims to introduce his groundbreaking achievements to a wider audience.

Brodovitch at work on a fashion layout for *Harper’s Bazaar.*

Brodovitch arrived in Paris in 1920, penniless, fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. There he began to paint scenes for Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes and designed book covers and department-store posters. Yet, despite acclaim, he grew restless with clients who preferred the prevailing Art Deco style. Brodovitch loved to experiment.