FLUGMASCHINEN -- WERKE / GUSTAV OTTO. 1912. 49x36 inches. G. Schuh, Munich. Condition B+: tears and creases in margins; staining in bottom margin; horizontal folds. Paper. Hohlwein produced posters in just about every field of transportation advertising; including automobiles (Audi, BMW and Mercedes), bicycles and early aviation events and manufacturers. Among his early aviation posters are three images that are all variations on the theme of an airplane flying around the towers of the Munich cathedral. The first of these, from 1910, is for the Akademie fur Aviatik (DFP III 1910) and has the plane in the middle of the image. This poster, for the Gustav-Otto airplane manufacturing company depicts the plane above the towers and the last of the "series," for Bayerische Flugzeugwerke A.G. , from 1915, shows a plane on the ground. Hohlwein produced many other posters for the airplane industry, including Hyon and Albatros and Blackmann Phonix Stahl. In this very rare poster, as with all of his work, Hohlwein has perfect mastery over his subject and how to depict it; within a spectacular layout, using his formidable talent as a draftsman, he plays with complimentary colors. In 1916 Gustav Otto's company merged with another small Munich-based manufacturer, Rapp Motoren Werke, the new company was the Bayerische Fluegzeugwerke (for whom Hohlwein also designed a poster) and soon therafter the company was renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke, or BMW, the original car company that still exists today! DFP III 1417.
