ZERO (HANS SCHLEGER, 1898-1976) NATIONAL ASSETS / BE SPARING IN THEIR USE. Circa 1940. 29x36 inches, 73 3/4x91 1/2 cm. Haycock Press, London. Condition B / B+: tape on verso along tear through upper edge into image; tears and pin holes at edges; creases and abrasions in margins and image. Paper. During the Second World War the British government wanted the public to keep use of telephone and telegraph to a minimum to ensure the lines were free when needed for war work, so they generated a series of posters to that effect. Here, Zero has wrapped the bottom of a telegraph around telephone lines. It is a somber message on a serious topic, yet he adds a little bird displaced from his roost to remind the public that hope still exists.
