ARTUR BERGER (1892-1981) MARX EMAIL / STREICHFERTIGE LACKE. 1912.
37x25 inches, 94x63 1/2 cm. A. Berger, Vienna.
Condition B+: minor restoration along sharp vertical and horizontal folds; creases in corners; minor restoration at edges.
Arthur Berger was known for his glass and textile works for the Wienner Werkstatte. This, his only poster, advertising an enamel paint company, is an extraordinary and rare image. Printed in 1912 it is such a progressive design that it transcends being simply avant-garde and assumes a premonitory status -- it is a Pop Art image fifty years before Pop Art. In its time this poster created a scandal among lovers of the Jugendstil. Ottokar Mascha, author of the influential 1915 book Oesterreichische Plakatkunst, who already held disdain for artists like Kokoschka, stated that, "this poster is certainly very striking - because of its ugliness. (Denscher p. 144). Denscher p. 144.