EDWARD MCKNIGHT KAUFFER (1890-1954) SUBWAY POSTERS PERFORM. 1947. 45 1/4x29 3/4 inches. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins and image; pinholes in corners; minor overpainting in margins. American born Kauffer rose to prominence as a graphic designer in Great Britain, where his work for Shell and the London Transport System, among others, assured him a place on the list of great 20th century graphic artists. Returning to America in 1939, Kauffer spent the war years working primarily on institutional commissions. When the New York Subways Advertising Company launched a new campaign in 1947, Kauffer was among the established artists chosen to contribute designs. The artists involved in the project were the most prominent practitioners of the craft ever assembled, many of whom had immigrated from Europe, and included Erik Nitsche, Otis Shepard, Joseph Binder, Jean Carlu, Herbert Bayer, Paul Rand, Lester Beall, Sascha Maurer and Lucian Bernhard. Kauffer contributed two dramatically different posters to the project. One "Subway Posters Pull," is a geometrically inspired photomontage (see Swann Modernist Poster auction #2006, lot 100). This poster is totally different. The soft, humorous style he employs here is in the same vein as a poster he had just created for the Barnum & Bailey Circus. This funny and eye-catching image was awarded the Art Director's Club Prize. Kauffer 317, International Poster Annual 1948-1949 p. 163.
