Statistically Speaking: The Graphic Expression of Data

August 25, 2011–January 24, 2012
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

The word “statistics” generally conjures up an image of columns of numbers that hold interest only for the expert or enthusiast. In the early twentieth century, however, states and political movements recognized that if statistics were presented in a visually compelling way, they could become powerful tools of mass persuasion.

Presented by The Wolfsonian Library, Statistically Speaking: The Graphic Expression of Data brought to light eye-catching statistical graphics from the first half of the twentieth century. The items displayed were vehicles for the ambitions of Portuguese imperialists, Soviet propagandists, and American New Dealers—groups that each deployed graphic design as a means of making quantitative information vivid, understandable, and endowed with meaning beyond mere numbers.