Jerelle Kraus on the New York Times Op-Ed at 40

Yesterday’s New York Times celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the op-ed section. Part of the commemoration is a video dedicated to the influential illustrations of the op-ed section.

The video includes an interview with Jerelle Kraus, the former art director at the New York Times (1979-1989, 1993-1996), and author of All the Art That’s Fit to Print (And Some that Wasn’t): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page, reveals the true story of the world’s first Op-Ed page. Not only did the New York Times‘s nonstaff bylines shatter tradition, but the pictures were revolutionary. Unlike anything ever seen in a newspaper, Op-Ed art became a globally influential idiom that reached beyond narrative for metaphor and changed illustration’s very purpose and potential.

In the interview, Kraus focuses on how the influx of artists from the Eastern bloc in the 1970s and 80s transformed Times coverage of the Cold War

For more information on the book including a gallery of many of the images found in the book you can visit jerellekraus.com.

Here are some sample images from the book: