Artists Biographies

Joseph Binder (1898-1972)

Joseph Binder is widely regarded as one of the most Influential Modern Graphic Designers.

Joseph Binder was born in Vienna. As a young man he apprenticed to become a lithographer and when he was twenty four entered at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts.

His artistic talent, and his mastery of lithography helped him to win many awards during his student years. In particular, he won a competition for poster designs for the American Red Cross, which paved the way for his employment at that institution when he immigrated to the US in 1936.

His clients included American Railroads, American Airlines, A&P Iced Coffee, Fortune and Graphics. He was appointed as the art director and designer of the U.S. Navy in 1948.

Binder eventually abandoned commercial art and forayed into the artistic venture with abstract, non-representational work. Starting in 1960, Binder devoted himself to painting, and exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in his home country in Vienna’s Museum of Applied Art. Joseph Binder died in 1972.