May 10, 2004 - Sale 2006

Sale 2006 - Lot 102

Price Realized: $ 2,990
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
LESTER BEALL (1903-1969) EUROPE / UNITED STATES LINES.
30x22 inches.
Condition A-: minor creases in marigns. Paper.
In the 1930s, after a traditional education in Chicago, Lester Beall became interested in avant-garde typography and the design elements of the Bauhaus. He moved to New York in 1935 where he began an extraordinarily successful career as an Art Director. He created world-acclaimed logos and corporate identities for such companies as American International Paper, Merrill Lynch, Caterpillar, Martin Marieta and the New York Hilton and working for the publisher McGraw-Hill, he redesigned 20 of their magazines. In 1937 he was the first American designer to have a one man show at the Museum of Modern Art. His goal was always to get his clients out of what he called "the vast anonymity." He always strove to achieve this goal with graphics as simple, efficient and readable as possible. For the United States Lines, the message to be transmitted was that they were the fastest. His solution is to use an arrow with the boat in the middle and stripes of color to emphasize this simple idea. The minimal lettering makes the images that much more readily accessible.