19 Facts About Alex Steinweiss

Alexander Steinweiss was an American graphic design artist known for inventing album cover art.

Alex Steinweiss's parents had first moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan and later on, settled in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn.

Alex Steinweiss studied under Leon Friend at Abraham Lincoln High School, and his classmates marveled that he "could take a brush, dip it in some paint and make letters," he recalled.

Alex Steinweiss earned a scholarship to the Parsons School of Design, and graduated in 1937.

Alex Steinweiss worked for three years for the Austrian poster designer Joseph Binder, whose flat color and simplified human figures were popular at the time and influenced his own work.

In 1938, Alex Steinweiss was the first art director for Columbia Records, where he introduced a wider application of album covers and cover art.

Alex Steinweiss continued to do freelance work for Columbia after the war.

Alex Steinweiss later went on to develop what is known as a record jacket.

Alex Steinweiss was involved in creating album cover designs from 1938 until his semi-retirement in 1973, where he shifted his focus towards painting.

The first period, from 1938 to around 1945, Alex Steinweiss designed all the covers for Columbia, where he developed the complete visual "language" for album design.

Alex Steinweiss can take credit for the Grecian column design Columbia used in 1948 on the first LP envelopes.

Alex Steinweiss utilized strange garish colors, odd lighting, and numerous visual puns and reference points.

Alex Steinweiss continued to work for Decca and London, and did the entire series of covers for the startup Everest label from 1958 until about 1960.

Alex Steinweiss's cover for the original Broadway cast recording of South Pacific has been in almost continuous use ever since for the 78rpm set, the LP, the 45rpm set, various tape formats and the CD.

In 1942, as the art director for the label, Alex Steinweiss recruited Jim Flora, a talented fine arts graduate from Cincinnati.

In 2001, Alex Steinweiss was featured in Carlo McCormick's gallery show "The LP Show," originating in New York's Exit Art and then in 2002 traveling to the Experience Music Project in Seattle and The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Alex Steinweiss died on July 18,2011, in Sarasota, Florida, as confirmed by his son Leslie.

Alex Steinweiss is survived by his daughter Hazel Steinweiss, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren, in addition to his son.

In 1998, Alex Steinweiss was inducted into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame.