Partnerships in Paper

Michael Ginsburg and Len Levine were once friendly competitors, selling paper in the 1960s and 1970s before working together at ANW Crestwood. They eventually decided to put their rivalry aside and set out to build a company dedicated to fine art paper. Drawing on their expertise and years of experience working with paper mills, they founded Legion Paper in 1994.

“They really wanted to build this business within a business that focused on fine art paper,” said Josh Levine, Len’s son and CEO of Legion Paper.

Ginsburg and Len started their company with the brands they developed, Lenox, Stonehenge and Coventry, along with Rising Museum Board and a couple dozen papers from Japan. Today, Legion Paper works with about 30 mills across a dozen countries, offering approximately 2,500 SKUs.

“After 30 years, we’re still independent,” Josh said. “We’re still growing, we’re still having fun with it, and I think we’ve kept our soul through all of it.”

Mills and makers

As Legion’s founders couldn’t take many of the mill relationships from ANW Crestwood with them, they did the legwork to find other papermakers across the globe. Their efforts to create and foster mill relationships became a cornerstone of the company.

Legion either sells brands made by the mills or contracts the mills to make papers to Legion’s specifications. Varieties range from handmade sheets from Japan and traditional mouldmade paper from Europe to the more common machine-made paper. Materials range from cotton and wood pulp to mulberry and bamboo; Legion also carries recycled paper.

“We live at this interesting intersection of people using the papers and the people who make the papers, and we can speak both languages,” Josh stated. “We know what the mills can do and what artists, designers, photographers and framers want. It helps us to find, source or create those things.”

Endless possibilities

The company continues to grow slowly and steadily, thanks to its presence in different markets and varied product categories. There are 2,500 SKUs in Legion’s catalog, divided among more than 100 brands in 30 product families. Categories range from bookbinding and printmaking to watercolor, graphite, pastel and charcoal as well as silkscreen and framing.

Legion is “not a commodity paper company,” according to Josh. Each product fulfills a certain need. What that need is, however, is determined by artists.

The founders understood early on that while technology and customers might change, the number of great paper mills wouldn’t. They looked at the products they had and listened carefully to what artists wanted. As a result, Legion categorizes its papers by their intended use, but leaves room for artists to discover new possibilities.

“We always say that there’s no such thing as a watercolor paper; there’s a paper that’s good for watercolor. But that same paper could also be a wedding invitation or be used for packaging. It can be used in all sorts of different markets and end uses,” Josh said. “I believe in putting great papers in the hands of creative people, and watching them come up with things we never thought about.”

Sometimes a certain type of paper will find new uses as technology evolves. Legion Art Coated Cover and Essex Art Cover were once used for fine art lithography, a huge part of Legion’s business. With the advent of digital printing, the need for lithography paper disappeared and Legion Art Coated Cover became popular for working with silverpoint and metalpoint fine art.

At other times, artists discover entirely new possibilities for a paper. Stonehenge, originally created for printmaking, is now widely used for pen and ink, colored pencil and other drawing media. YUPO, a polypropylene substrate first developed for industrial applications, has become a favorite among artists working in watercolor and alcohol ink. Even Rising Museum Board, designed for framing and preservation, has found unexpected creative uses. Andy Warhol, for example, used it as a surface for screen printing.

“The breadth of our range is great because it helps us serve very specific applications while also giving people many reasons to come to us for paper,” Josh said. “We have expertise that is really deep and highly specific.”

A paper concierge

Another cornerstone of Legion is education. Josh hopes the company will continue to be a resource on how its papers are made, their potential uses and how they can serve artists. A new website is in the works, centered on education. “We want it to become one of the best educational resources available on fine art paper,” Josh said.

The conversation around paper continues through Legion’s artist surveys, live chat and Ask an Expert forum on its website, conversations with artists at shows such as Creativation by NAMTA and Southern Graphics Council International, and check-ins with retailers about new and interesting products they’re seeing on the market. “We want to hear from everybody,” Josh said.

Retailers benefit from one-day shipping from Legion’s warehouses in Massachusetts and California, a digital library of images and educational content, and helpful, personal service. “We still like to do things person to person. Customers can place orders through our website, but I think people like working with us. We’re like a paper concierge,” Josh explained. “I feel like it’s our job to get people to come into the store and ask for our products. I think one plus one equals three. We love to partner with stores – sampling, emailing, finding a local artist to come in and demo our products.”

Josh is proud of his team, the reputation they’ve built and the trusting relationships between Legion, manufacturers and customers. “I want to keep giving people things that are going to change the way they work or improve the way that they work.”