CHRONOLOGY
1903
Born Kansas City, MO, March l4
1903
Family moves to St. Louis, MO
1903-25
Spends summers in Ewing, MO with maternal grandparents
1910
Lives in St. Joseph, MO
Family moves to Chicago
1912-26
Lives at 426 E. 50th Street, Chicago
192l
Receives amateur radio operator’s license
1922
Graduates from Lane Technical School
1922
Begins studies at University of Chicago
1922-26
Appears in semi-professional theater while a student at University of Chicago
Contemplates acting career with friend Will Geer; decides upon career in visual arts
1926
Graduates from the University of Chicago
1927
Carlstrand-Rock Company
1927-30
Begins design career in Chicago as freelancer
Opens office in downtown Chicago
1928
Marries Dorothy Miller
1929
Son Lester Beall, Jr. born (October 26)
Achieves recognition “in a small way” for his work
Moves into new studio
Marshall Field & Company
1930
Does first photography
1929-3l
Spends time in Ryerson Memorial Library, Art Institute of Chicago
Becomes aware of the European avant-garde in fine as well as graphic art
Seeks “new direction” for his career
1930s
Has design office at 333 North Michigan Avenue
Charles Daniel Frey Advertising Agency
Chicago Tribune
193l
Wahl/Eversharp Project
Vacation Vignettes
Eversharp Ad-Art
Cruise Brochures
Ads for Pabst Corporation
1932
Meets Fred Hauck, BBDO
Interests shifts from illustration to typography
Pabst Corporation
Mills Novelty Company
Chicago Tribune
1933
Opens design office with Fred Hauck
Designs first mural at the Chicago Century of Progress (for Public Service Company of Northern Illinois)
Designs playbill for Globe Theatre
Art Directors Club of Chicago
Colortext Publications
Carne Company
Donald M. Frank
Mills Novelty Company
1934
Purchases first Leica camera
First photograms
First participation in group exhibition
Wins award for illustration at the Chicago Art Directors Club
Exhibits at Art Directors Club of New York
Gives talk at Society of Typographic Arts, “New Foundation for Layout”
On trip east, visits Charles Coiner at N. W. Ayer, Philadelphia
Globe Theater
Chicago Tribune
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
Society of Typographic Arts
Mix Advertising Arts
mid-30’s
Founding member of Chicago 27
Delivers speech to STA about the Bauhaus and Moholy-Nagy
1935
Wins award at STA annual exhibit
Awarded three blue ribbons by Art Directors Club of New York
Daughter Joanna born, August 17, l935
Moves to New York City ahead of family to begin practice
Office at Tudor City
Meets Gilbert Tompkins, to be his agent
Meets George Bijur, CBS
Designs first package
Chicago Tribune
Society of Typographic Arts
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
1936
Reunites with family and lives in Wilton, Connecticut (January)
Two Gold Medal Awards from Art Directors Club of New York
Hiram Walker Incorporated
Art Directors Club of New York
George Bijur, Inc.
Narragansett Brewing Co.
Abbott Laboratories
1937
Designs REA posters, Series 1
Exhibits REA posters at Museum of Modern Art
Subject of cover and feature article in PM magazine
Hires first employees
U.S. Government, Rural Electrification Administration
Philadelphia GAS Work
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company/Colliers
George Bijur, Inc.
Marshall Field & Company
Florida Citrus Canners Cooperative
Cue Publishing Company
I. Miller & Sons, Inc.
Union Bag and Paper Corporation
Hiram Walker Incorporated
Narragansett Brewing Co.
1938
Co-authors article with L. Sandusky titled “The Bauhaus Tradition and the New Typography”
Subject of article in German magazine Gebrauchsgraphik
Works on photograms and experimental photography
Moves business to Woodstock Tower, Tudor City, New York City
Designs REA posters, series #2
Work reproduced in Arts et Metiers Graphiques, vols. 61. 63, 65
U.S. Government, Rural Electrification Administration
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company
Sterling Engraving
George Bijur, Inc./Time magazine
Art Directors Club of New York
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Inc.
PM Publishing Company
Modern Arts Press
Boston Insurance Company
1938-39
Moves office to 580 Fifth Avenue
Name of firm changed to Lester Beall
1939
Work produced in Arts et Metiers Graphiques, vol. 68
U.S. Government, Rural Electrification Administration
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company
Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc.
George Bijur, Inc.
Sterling Engraving
New York World’s Fair
Art Center School
Abbott Laboratories
New York Public Library
Art Directors Club of New York
Robert Johnson Magazines, Inc.
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. In.
1940
Abbott Laboratories
Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc.
Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company
National Alliance of Art & Industry, Inc.
William Allen White Committee
194l
Designs REA posters, series #3
U.S. Government, Rural Electrification Administration
U.S. Housing Authority and Office for Emergency Management
Crowell-Collier Publishing Company
Museum of Modern Art
Abbott Laboratories
Advertising Club of Boston
St. Matthew’s Parish
Caterpillar Tractor Company
1942
Exhibits in “Advance Guard of Advertising Artists” show at A-D Gallery, New York (with Bayer, Carlu, Kepes, Kauffer, Matter, Moholy-Nagy, Rand, and Sutnar)
Featured in Norte magazine
Packaging Institute Inc.
U.S. Government, Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
Burroughs Wellcome & Co., Inc.
C.J. Bates & Sons
1944
Designs first Scope for Upjohn Company
Burroughs Wellcome & Co., Inc.
C.J. Bates & Sons
1945
Exhibits in one-man show at A-D Gallery, New York City
Receives gold medal for fine arts at Art Directors Club of New York
Cone Automatic Machine Co., Inc.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation
Marshall Field & Company
New York Subways Advertising Company
Upjohn Company
1946
Art Directors Club of New York
Container Corporation of America
Museum of Modern Art
New Republic Magazine
Willow Run Automobiles
RCA
Upjohn Company
Ford Motor Company
Fortune magazine
1947
Dell Publishers
Marshall Field & Company
Publishers Weekly magazine
Upjohn Company
McCalls magazine
1948
Moves office to 60 Sutton Place South
Exhibits in one-man show at Society of Illustrators, New York
Award from Art Directors Club of Chicago for Marshall Field ads
Beall’s mother, Effie Kendall Thomas Beall, dies
E.J. Brach & Sons
Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company
Cockfield, Brown & Company, Ltd.
1949
Buys Dumbarton Farm
Screen Process & Display Association
Strathmore Paper Company
Upjohn Company
1950
Moves to Dumbarton Farm
University of Chicago
Davis, Delaney, Inc.
Graphic Arts Production Yearbook
Medical Times
Miles Pennybacker
Pond’s Extract Company
RCA
Strathmore Paper Company
Art Directors Club of Cleveland
Altes Brewing Company
McGavin Bakeries, Ltd.
American Artist magazine
American Red Cross
Davis and Geck
Rogers Engraving Company, Inc.
195l
First trip to Europe
Gives talk at International Advertising Conference, London
Advertising and Sales Club of Syracuse
American Red Cross
Diameter magazine
Kurt Volk
New York Herald Tribune
United States Lines Company
New England Fish Company
Perfex Bleach Limited
U.S. Air Force
Ketchum, MacLleod & Grove Inc.
Museum of Modern Art
1952
Opens office at Dumbarton Farm
Graphis magazine
Parsons Paper Company
Perfex Bleach Limited
Propeller Club of United States
United States Lines Company
Art Director & Studio News magazine
Ohio Brass Company
American Broadcasting Company
Family Shopper
Joseph A. Kaplan & Sons, Inc.
Lithographers National Association
New England Fish Company
Albin Dearing
Simoniz Company
Peter Downes
Journal of Living Publishing Corporation
Perfex Bleach Limited
Torrington Manufacturing Company
George Bijur, Inc.
Davis, Delaney Inc,
Industrial Engineering, Ltd.
General Foods Corporation
John Labatt, Ltd.
1954
Visiting Graphic Artist at Yale University
John Labatt, Ltd.
Link-Belt Company
Martin Aircraft Company
United States Lines Company
E.T. Barwick Mills
Stanley Works
1955
Closes offices in New York
Participates in Alliance Graphique Internationale exhibit in Paris
Visiting graphic artist at Yale University
Consultant, Office of Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
Blumenthal Brothers Chocolate Company
Davis and Geck
Simoniz Corporation
J. Wiss & Sons Co.
MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd.
Torrington Manufacturing Company
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
Container Corporation of America
1956
Produces “Dumbarton Farm—A Place in the Country” booklet
Produces “Music Sphere” for ALCOA
Changes name of firm to Lester Beall Design Group
Visiting Graphic Artist at Yale University
Graham Foundation
H. L. Judd Company
Lee-Vons farms
Martin Aircraft Company
Outdoor Advertising, Inc.
Aluminum Company of Canada
General Electric Company
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Inc.
1957
Second trip to Europe, with Dorothy and Lester Jr.
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
Equity Press Inc.
Martin Aircraft Company
Pfeiffer Brewing Company
Uris Buildings Co.
Consolidated Natural Gas Co.
Torrington Manufacturing Company
Emhart Manufacturing Company
1958
Begins work for International Paper Company
Aluminum Company of America
Colton Press, Inc.
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
Emhart Manufacturing Company
Martin Aircraft Company
Sperry Products, Inc.
Torrington Manufacturing Company
Western Gypsum Products Ltd.
Titeflex, Inc.
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
Caterpillar Tractor Company
United States Government Post Office
1959
Lectures at “Typography USA” conference, New York city
Aluminum Company of America
Connecticut General Life Insurance Company
Corry Jamestown Corporation
Hudson Pulp & Paper Corporation
International Paper Company
Martin Aircraft Company
J. Wiss & Sons Co.
Boy Scouts of America
United Biscuit Company of America
Titeflex, Inc.
Western Gypsum Products Ltd.
1960
Incorporates business (June)
Changes name of firm to Lester Beall Inc.
Travels in France with Dorothy
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
REA Express
Uris Buildings Corp.
International Paper Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
196l
New York Hilton
Standard Oil Company
Torrington Manufacturing Company
Mite Corporation
MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd.
International Paper Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
Eastman Kodak Company
J.W. Clement
1961
Produces “Lester Beall” promotional booklet
One-man exhibit, “The Graphic Work of Lester Beall” opens at American Institute of Graphic Arts in New York
New York Hilton Hotel
Chilton Company
Max O. Urbahn
International Paper Company
Caterpillar Tractor Company
U.S. Information Agency
Martin Marietta Corporation
1963
Beall’s father, Walter Miles Beall, dies
International Paper Company
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Lincoln Center Fund
Martin Marietta Corporation
Newsweek magazine
Western Gypsum Products, Ltd.
General Aniline & Film Corporation
House of Herbs
Union Carbide Corporation
Art Metal, Inc.
Caterpillar Tractor Company
1964
Art Metal, Inc.
Bunker-Ramo Corporation
Martin Marietta Corporation
Newal, Inc.
Rohm & Haas Company
House of Herbs
MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd.
Caterpillar Tractor Company
1965
Lester Beall becomes ill
Art Metal, Inc.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Rohm & Haas Company
Caterpillar Tractor Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company
1966
Art Metal, Inc.
Caterpillar Tractor Company
Crane Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
Rohm & Haas Company
International Paper Company
1967
International Paper Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Caterpillar Tractor Company
MacMillan Bloedel, Ltd.
1968
Art Metal, Inc.
Caterpillar Tractor Company
Martin Marietta Corporation
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith
International Paper Company
Oldham, Soforenko & Priestley Associates
1969
Lester Beall dies (June 20)
Caterpillar Tractor Company
Rohm & Haas Company
1972
Studio/barns at Dumbarton Farm sold
Beall inducted into Hall of Fame, Art Directors Club of New York
1974
Personal library of graphic and fine art books sold to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
1983
House at Dumbarton Farm sold
Personal library of literary books sold
1986
Dorothy Miller Beall dies
1993
Lester Beall honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by American Institute of Graphic Arts
