Deco

San Francisco, California (PRWEB) April 17, 2012

The Academy of Art Universitys Automotive Collection will receive a 2012 Preservation Award from the Art Deco Society of California at the annual ART DECO PRESERVATION BALL on May 5, 2012. This years event, themed Swingin On the Golden Gate Bridge will celebrate the 75th Anniversary of San Franciscos best-known Art Deco icon, the Golden Gate Bridge, and honor the people who have helped preserve the buildings, art, and culture from the Art Deco era.

In addition to the Academy of Art University Automotive Collection and the Golden Gate Bridge, 2012 honorees include Hangar One: Moffett Field; Artist Brents Carlton; Artist Jacques Schnier; Neon Preservationist Jim Rizzo; the Eastern Colombia Building in Los Anglees; and San Franciscos Ice Cream Bar.

The Academy of Art Universitys vintage car collection is one of the most impressive in the world and Californians are fortunate to have the opportunity to get up close to these historic cars here in San Francisco, said H. Lynn Harrison, Preservation Director, Art Deco Society. We congratulate the Stephens Family on this honor and thank them for all they do to preserve the culture of the Art Deco era.

The Academy of Art Universitys Automotive Collection includes more than 165 cars owned by the Stephens family that also own the University. Many of the vintage cars are on display at the Academy of Art University Auto Museum, which serves as inspiration for Transportation Design and School of Industrial Design students who aspire to be auto designers. Students are able to study the style and technology of the vintage cars and apply them to their ideas for future car designs. The public is welcome to pay homage to the classic cars at the Auto Museum on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.

Our family has a passion for vintage cars and we love to share our enthusiasm for this era and these cars with the public, said Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of the Academy of Art University. We are honored to receive this Award and encourage the public to come visit the auto museum in San Francisco and experience the beauty of these automobiles first-hand.

The Art Deco Society of California Awards cover the entire State and reflect a mix of public and private buildings, as well as individuals who have preserved the art and culture of this era. Awards are given to individuals or businesses as well as to buildings. Recipients of the Preservation Awards will be honored at the Art Deco Preservation Ball, May 5, 2012 at 7pm at Bimbos 365 Club located at 1025 Columbus Ave in San Francisco.

About Academy of Art

Academy of Art University, the largest private university of art and design in the United States, is educating students for the art and design jobs of the 21st Century. Established in 1929, the Academy is an output-based higher education model that provides open admissions to all students, but imposes a rigorous curriculum that requires the students to produce a portfolio of work that demonstrates a mastery of their field in order to graduate. Students are taught by a faculty of professionals from the existing marketplace, which provides them with an understanding of what it takes to succeed in todays business environment. The Academys hands-on curriculum produces graduates that possess great artistic and design skills and equally as important, the ability to put those talents to work immediately after graduation. As a result, Academy graduates are ready to compete for and win the jobs of the 21st Century in the fields of Acting, Advertising, Animation & Visual Effects, Architecture, Art Education, Fashion, Fine Art, Game Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture & Design, Landscape Architecture, Motion Pictures & Television, Multimedia Communications, Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media, Photography and Web Design & New Media. Academy of Art University is accredited by WASC, NASAD, Council for Interior Design Accreditation (Formerly FIDER), (BFA-IAD), and NAAB (M-ARCH). Visit http://www.academyart.edu for more information.

###

Article by Ava Land

The famous photographs of the roaring twenties photographer Alfred Cheney Johnston were just about lost to history. In the 1920′s ACJ was one of the most renowned photographers in America. As the chief photographer for the Ziegfeld Follies Johnston had access to photographing some of the most striking and prominent women in the world.

Since the late 1990′s a growing number of people have been running across Cheney Johnston’s work on the internet where they’re now being sold. His famous photographs are becoming more and more collectible. If you too are thinking of collecting his work, here are some for identifying authentic ACJ prints.

1. Lighting was a big part of Alfred Cheney Johnston’s photography. Some referred to him as him the Rembrandt of Photography. His early prints have a glow to them. This is occurred by a combination of light, his glass plate negatives not nearly being sensitive enough, long exposures and the camera lens being too soft. This caused what’s known as halation-in other words the glow of the print image. As Alfred Cheney Johnston perfected the medium of photography over the course of his career, his lighting grew more and more refined offering up ever more detail in his photographic prints.

2. Cheney’s images have a particular innocence to them. This was achieved by how he positioned the model especially the hands. Look at enough ACJ prints and after awhile you can easily pick out his prints by how the hands of the person sitting for him are posed. This attention to the position of the hands came from his classical training in fine art.

3. Seeing Alfred Cheney Johnston was the head photographer for the Flo Ziegfeld’s Follies on Broadway this meant he shot a lot of the showgirls in their stage costumes. That meant using a lot of props. Again, over time Johnston grew more and more competent at designing masterpieces of compositions by focusing on how he posed the model and what props he included and where he placed them.

Besides photographing the Follies Girls,there were the stars of the burgeoning movie business out in Los Angeles. From Fanny Brice to Lillian Gish, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Eddie Cantor, from Louise Brooks, a.k.a. “Lulu”- the Madonna of the Art Deco Era to Flo Ziegfeld’s wife, Bille Burke best known as Glenda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz, ACJ photographed an array of famous people at the height of his career. At one time Johnston was so well known he was nearly as famous as the people he was hired to photograph.

Sadly, the Great Depression ended Alfred Cheney Johnston’s career and he disappeared from Manhattan. Thankfully the internet brought Alfred Cheney Johnston’s work back to the public’s attention.