CHARLES T. COINER (1898-1989) NRA. Circa 1933.
24x18 3/4 inches, 61x47 1/2 cm.
Condition A- / B+: minor restoration at edges; abrasions in image.
Coiner learned his craft during a six-year stint at an advertising agency in Chicago. In 1924, he moved to Philadelphia, where he joined the art department at N.W. Ayer. He was a young, dashing figure in the advertising world and he gained national recognition with the logo he designed for the NRA. He became a key figure in the modern approach to advertising during the late-1930s while working with the Container Corporation of America campaigns, for which he was allowed to hire all of the avant-garde talents that he wanted. During the Second World War, he was appointed as a consultant to the office of Emergency Management,where he continued hiring top graphic designers to create propaganda aimed at the war industries, including the memorable Production poster by Jean Carlu. Coiner's "Blue Eagle" became a ubiquitous sight during New Deal America, as it was displayed coast-to-coast by businesses. It has since become an icon of American Modernism. Enacted in 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act was a New Deal public works program intended to provide an economic stimulus. The logo was used and reused so frequently that it is rare to find a copy bearing Coiner's printed signature, suggesting that this poster was from a very early printing. Enyclopedie de l'Affiche p. 104 (var), Resnick 17 (var).