MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA.- Vicki Gold Levi discussed her new book, Cuba Style: Graphics from the Golden Age of Design, co-authored with Steven Heller, at The Wolfsonian–Florida International University. The book documents the evolution of Cuban graphic design from the first half of the twentieth century.
To advertise the island’s attractions, products, and souvenirs, Cuban graphic designers embraced a wide range of styles and media, including ornate cigar-box labels, glamorous jazz-age magazine covers by C. W. Massaguer, and elegant 1950s nightclub menus and cocktail accessories. In their lively depictions of dancers, musical instruments, palm trees, sun-drenched beaches, and bathing beauties, Cuban designers combined elements of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Bauhaus modernism, and Vegas-style kitsch—albeit with a distinctly Cuban sensibility.
Levi, the co-founder of the Atlantic City Historical Museum, recently gifted her collection of more than three hundred Cuban graphic objects to The Wolfsonian, selections from which are currently on display.
A Cuba-themed reception follows the lecture, including complimentary food by David’s Café and mojitos by Matusalem Rum.
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University is a museum and research center that promotes the examination of modern material culture to enhance the understanding and appreciation of objects as agents and reflections of social, political, and technological change. The organization focuses on its extraordinary collection of North American and European decorative, propaganda, and fine arts of the 1885 to 1945 period, donated to Florida International University in 1997 by Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Through exhibitions, publications, and academic and public programs, The Wolfsonian serves local, national, and international audiences.