His designs became a part of the fabric of our lives in the mid-twentieth century; the Sears Coldspot refrigerator, Greyhound buses, the Studebaker Avanti automobile, and the streamlined locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Raymond Loewy, the most famous industrial designer in America, will be the focus of an exhibition at Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware, from August 17 through December 31, 2002. The exhibit in the Henry Clay Mill Gallery will be open daily 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. An accompanying catalog written by Glenn Porter will be available, with many black and white and color plates.

During his long career, Loewy's name was associated with a number of design icons, both products and packaging, and many identity programs and logos for clients such as International Harvester, Shell Oil, the United States Postal Service, and Lucky Strikes cigarettes. Examples of Loewy's signature designs will include a Coca-Cola dispenser, a 1950's jukebox, household items including various china patterns, a model of Air Force One, as well as manuscript materials and images of his logos. The exhibit's thirteen sections will take a comprehensive look at both Loewy's life and his body of work.

The initial section will cover Loewy's early years, from his childhood through his World War I service. Subsequent sections will detail his work as an advertising illustrator, his earliest industrial design efforts, and the designs he produced while a consultant for the Pennsylvania Railroad. A section dedicated solely to Loewy's transportation designs, will include his work for Greyhound, Studebaker, United Airlines, and the Panama Line of Cruise ships. A look at his post-war work focuses on household and package designs including dinnerware, appliances, cameras, radios, televisions, a rug, and wallpaper.

His lifestyle, design philosophy, and public persona will be presented through film footage from documentaries, home movies, and television appearances. Additional segments will cover Loewy's architectural and interior designs; work for the United States government, including NASA Skylab and the John F. Kennedy memorial stamp; his Shell Oil corporate identity program; and the designs he did for the Russian government. The exhibit's final section will look at Loewy's last years including his Renwick Gallery retrospective exhibition and the publication of his book, Industrial Design. The Loewy papers will be opened for research as soon as they are organized and conserved, in late 2004 or in 2005. Admission for the exhibition is $5 adults, $2 children six to fourteen and under six are free. Samples from the exhibit