?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
EDWARD MCKNIGHT KAUFFER (1890-1954) OFFICIAL FOR WINTER / SINGLE SHELL LUBRICATING OIL. 1936. 29 1/2x44 1/2 inches, 75x113 cm. Condition A / A-: creases in margins and image. Framed. When Shell launched "Lubricating Oil" as a new product, Jack Beddington asked Kauffer to invent a universal, visual identity for the brand. Kauffer came up with the idea of an articulated artist's mannequin, which was systematically used in most of the posters promoting the product. He also devised the innovative conical can. Many different ads were printed (in magazines and as posters), all featuring these two elements along with simple text to explain the product. The modern approach of a coherent visual identity grew to impressive international proportions and was worked on by many prominent artists, and the overall campaign grew to very sophisticated levels (see Swann Modernist Poster Auction #1897, lot 65 and Auction #2079, lot 144).
