The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is hosting an exhibition of some fifty items of graphic design and illustration by Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954), possibly the most important poster and graphic designer of the 20th Century. The Poster King: Edward McKnight Kauffer comprises items brought together from the archives of Shell, BP, and the London Transport Museum, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the private collection of the artist's family.
One might ask: why is the Estorick Collection showing works by an American émigré artist? The answer: Kauffer was particularly interested in Italian Futurism, a movement that set out to take art into everyday life, to make it available to a mass audience.
Kauffer's output included paintings, book jackets and illustrations, drawings, theatrical sets and costumes, as well as newspaper advertisements and posters. He favoured a variety of styles ranging from Japanese art, to Fauvism, Constructivism and Surrealism, drawing inspiration from artists such as Van Gogh, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Jacob Epstein, and the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero. It is the posters created for clients such as Shell, BP and London Underground, for which he is best remembered.
Edward McKnight Kauffer – a Brief Biography
Edward Kauffer (McKnight was added later) was born in 1890 in Montana, USA, and showed early artistic talent. By 1907, with encouragement from his stepfather, he had set himself up as a painter. The turning point in his career came in 1910 when, while working in a San Francisco bookshop, he met Professor Joseph E. McKnight, of the University of Utah. In 1912 McKnight recognised Kauffer's talent and offered a loan to pay for tuition in Paris. To show his gratitude, Kauffer adopted his sponsor's surname and incorporated it into his own.
Although Kauffer's career in England had been highly successful, by the mid-1930s he found it increasingly difficult to obtain commissions. He returned to the United States in 1940, where his clients included the publishers Random House and American Airlines. Kauffer died in New York in 1954.
Kauffer Transformed the Visual Culture of Britain
The Poster King: Edward McKnight Kauffer focuses mainly on Kauffer's time in England from 1914 to 1940, during which period his most well-known works were produced. The exhibition looks at how Kauffer's work changed not just commercial advertising, but also the visual culture of Britain. For example, the Vorticist artist Wyndham Lewis described the tunnels of the London Underground as subterranean art galleries for works by Kauffer, and it was Wyndham Lewis who first dubbed Kauffer: 'The Poster King.'
The Poster King: Edward McKnight Kauffer – About the Exhibition
The exhibition showcases pieces from early on in Kauffer's career, such as Exhibition of Modern Art: The London Group, 1-29 November (1919),and Kauffer's most well-known image, Flight (1919). The angular birds in flight resemble splintered air planes, recalling the geometric shapes typical of the Vorticist movement. The piece started out in 1916 as a black on white woodcut, an observation of birds in flight. Kauffer made a second version in 1917, adding a border and smoothing out the wings of the birds to reinforce the impression of rapid movement. The poster was published in Colour Magazine's Picture Gallery and subsequently adopted by the Labour-affiliated newspaper, the Daily Herald, who gave it the caption ″Soaring to Success – the Early Bird″.
In 1915 Kauffer was commissioned by Frank Pick, Publicity Manager for Underground Electric Railways (later London Underground), for whom he created some 140 posters including Summertime Pleasures by Underground (1925), which evokes the fairytale world depicted by Fortunato Depero.
Kauffer enjoyed a highly successful career in England, including among his clients the advertising agency Crawford’s; the publishers, Lund Humphries; and the Oil refiners Shell-Mex BP Ltd. The exhibition includes a poster created for Shell entitled BP Ethyl Controls Horse-power (1933), one of the first British posters to incorporate the use of photomontage.
He returned to the USA in 1940, and The Poster King includes posters created during this period such as American Airlines to Chicago (1950), which is typical of his later works.
The Poster King also includes a selection of related items such as sketches, photographs, and several original artworks including studies for posters and paintings.
The Poster King – Exhibition Catalogue
The Poster King is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring extracts from Kauffer’s writings.
The Poster King will be on show from 14th September to 18th December 2011. Further details are available from the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art.
Sources:
- The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
- Timmers, M., The Power of the Poster, V&A Publishers, 2003
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
