May 21, 2009 - Sale 2181

Sale 2181 - Lot 36

Price Realized: $ 2,280
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
PAUL SCHUITEMA (1897-1973) TENTOONSTELLING / BKI. 1931.
23 1/2x18 inches, 59 1/2x45 1/2 cm.
Condition B+: creases and wrinkles in margins and image; staining and minor tears at edges. Matted and framed.
A pioneer in modernistic graphic design, Schuitema also worked as a photographer, filmmaker and furniture designer. After WWI, his first major client was Berkel Scales for whom he designed a complete graphic line. His style had its roots in the philosophy of de Stijl and the precepts of the Bauhaus and Constructivists. Later on, he also did work for Philips and the Dutch Post Office. A teacher at the Royal Academy in Den Hag, Schuitema's virtuosity at photomontage, New Typography, and graphic design tricks, such as overprinting, influenced the next generation of Dutch designers. This poster, advertising an exhibition of the Federation of Art in Advertising, is typical of his work. Schuitema uses bold, legible sans-serif typography and only two colors two convey his message. The asymmetrical placing of the logo in the background draws even more attention to the words. Schuitema p. 26.