Feb 20, 2025 - Sale 2695

Sale 2695 - Lot 387

Unsold
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

LESTER BEALL (1903-1969)

IT'S FINE FOR US / RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION. 1939.


40¼x29¾ inches, 102¼x75½ cm.
Condition A-: small repaired tear at top edge, archival tape on verso; minor creases and abrasions at edges; partial silkscreen. Paper.

Lester Beall was one of the first designers commissioned by the U.S. Government to help promote the Rural Electrification Administration. The posters he created in this series, released in three sets for the R.E.A., pitched basic modern amenities to the hinterlands of America, where many such "luxuries" were virtually unknown. The R.E.A. existed not only to help rural America enter into the modern age but also served to create jobs for a Depression-ravaged country. Elevating visual communication to an extremely efficient level, Beall's style involves a technique close to the ideogram, employing clear and direct images, free from any external influences that would lessen the pure message.

Beall 115.