Louise Brooks, and the avant-garde design of Polish magazines

Louise Brooks was a truly an international star. And she still is. My forthcoming two volume work, Around the World with Louise Brooks, makes that very point by including more than 75 vintage non-American magazine covers which feature the actress - including these four from Poland. I think they look rather fabulous.

Polish graphic design has long been held in high regard, especially the avant-garde efforts coming out of inter-war Poland. In ways, Polish design rivaled the avant-garde, post-revolutionary efforts from the Soviet Union, which are better known and better documented (and were later squashed by the likes of dull socialist realism). If you want to learn more about Polish cinema, Polish design, and/or interwar Polish culture, be sure and check out culture.pl, a website chock-full of articles on those very topics. 

[Two pieces to start with are "Polish Cinema's Golden Age: The Glamour & Progress of Poland's Interwar Films" by Juliette Bretan, and "The Vintage Charm & Chic of 1920s Poland" by Anna Legierska. I would also recommend exploring Juliette Bretan's contributor page, which links to some of the other interesting articles she has penned on interwar culture in Poland.] On with the show....

While researching Polish film magazines, I came across a handful of examples of issues which also display a striking cover design. I wish to share them here, just because they are rather cool looking. 

The first shown likely comes from Pandora's Box, as it depicts Carl Goetz (as Schigolch?), dates from 1929, and bears a photo credit from the Polish distributor of the celebrated 1929 German film. As there is no specific reference to the film (which in Poland went under the titles Lulu and Puszka Pandory) in the magazine, and as I am not all that familiar with Goetz's career, I won't say for sure. He was in two other German film which were released just before this magazine was published. And too, I have not compared the still on the cover with the film itself, though it looks like it could be a still from the scene when Goetz is discovered on the balcony by Dr. Ludwig Schön. If anyone knows for sure, please send me a message. Now, on with the show....

The remaining covers I am showing because they are, simply put, eye catching, and also reflect the modernist design tendencies mentioned above. Or, because they stylishly feature American movie stars like Buster Keaton, Clara Bow, W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy, Anna May Wong, and others. Or, because they are just too darn cute. Each of the magazines pictured here date from 1929, 1930, or 1931.