Roy Kuhlman 1923-2007

By Mark Kaufman
The design world has lost a giant today. Roy Kuhlman best known for his Grove Press covers of the 1950s and 60s and as art director for Evergreen Magazine has passed away at the age of 83. Great essay here on the Grove Press work. I think that in the pantheon of design legends, Mr. Kuhlman is not one that springs to mind to today’s designers, but to those of us of a certain age, his work and his legacy mean a great deal. You know what. Screw design. His work is an instance of design actually reaching out beyond it’s navel-gazing borders and touching the society as a whole. His book covers intrigued a generation into finding out about Beckett and Genet, jazz and literature, art and criticism. In my case, a no future kid from urban New Jersey, there was no art or design or theatre in my life. My friends and family had no interest in the arts at all, but when I had to check out a Grove Press edition out of the library for my English class, Mr. Kuhlman’s work aroused my curiosity as much as the words betweeen the covers. And it inspired me to seek out art and literature and theatre and ultimately design.  I never met Roy Kuhlman and I do not pretend to know the man, but I wish to thank him from the bottom of my heart for a life beyond the sports pages, and a dead end job.