LESTER BEALL (1903-1969) EUROPE / UNITED STATES LINES. Circa 1952. 30 1/2x22 inches, 77 1/2x56 cm. Condition B+: repaired tears and restoration at edges. 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 a 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 Marietta and the New York Hilton. His goal was always to get his clients out of what he called "the vast anonymity." He strove to achieve this goal with graphics as simple, efficient and readable as possible, as exemplified here with the S.S. United States in the middle of a patriotically-colored arrow pointing toward the word "Europe." Beall p. 73.
