Hailed in his lifetime as “the poster king,” E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890–1954) believed that the street was an art gallery for the people. While living in England between 1914 and 1940, Kauffer produced radical posters for advertising that introduced modernism to the public. He experimented in provocative ways with line, form, space, and colour to promote services and products. He did not limit himself to posters, and designed a remarkable range of book covers, rugs, theatrical productions, and more, continuing his work in New York from 1940 until his death.
For more biographical notes see part 1, and for earlier works, see parts 1 - 3 also.
This is part 4 of a 6-part series on the works of E. McKnight Kauffer:
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| 1930 London's Underground colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1930 For Pull use Summer Shell colour lithograph poster 75.6 x 114.3 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1930 Play Between 6 And 12, The Bright Hours. Go By Underground colour lithograph poster 101.6 x 63.5 cm |
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| c1930-35 Untitled drawing pen and ink 19.6 x 16.5 cm |
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| 1930s Bexoid, Trade Literature colour lithograph |
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| c1930s Plato preliminary collage for an unidentified design incorporating cut-out photographs of Michaelangelo's Moses, and an écorché male figure seen from behind V&A Museum, London |
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| late 1930s Still Life: A Rose in a Glass oil on board 27 x 21.9 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1931 Roman Britain, St. Albans by Motor Bus Route no. 84 or Green Line Coach Route H lithograph poster 50.2 x 32.7 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1931 Shop Between 10 and 4 The Quiet Hours and by Underground colour lithograph London Transport poster |
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| 1931 Stonehenge: See Britain First on Shell colour lithograph poster 76 x 113.6 cm |
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| 1931 The New Forest: See Britain First on Winter Shell colour lithograph poster 76.2 x 114.3 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1931 You Can Be Sure of Shell colour lithograph poster 80 x113 cm MoMA, New York |
1931 Nigger Heaven by Carl van Vechten
No other contemporary work of literature received the volume and intensity of criticism and curiosity that greeted Carl Van Vechten's 1926 novel. The bestseller generated a storm of controversy because of its scandalous title but also fed an insatiable hunger for material relating to the Black culture of Harlem's jazz clubs, cabarets, and social events.
Here is a Harlem where upper-class elites discuss art in well-appointed drawing rooms; rowdy and lascivious drunks spend long nights in jazz clubs and speakeasies; and politically conscious young intellectuals drink coffee and debate the race problem in walk-up apartments. At the center of the story, two young people--a quiet, serious librarian and a volatile aspiring writer - struggle to love each other as their dreams are slowly suffocated by racism.
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| Dust Jacket pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Adora at a Party pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Adora's House in the Country. Mary at the Window pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| At the Winter Palace pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Black Venus pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Byron and Lasca Dance Together pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Byron and Mary pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Byron and Mary pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Byron Leaves Lasca's Apartment pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Byron Writes from Nigger Heaven pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Lasca pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| Mary Waiting pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| The End pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x38.7 cm |
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| The Murder pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| The Scarlet Creeper pencil and gouache on paper 55.9 x 38.7 cm |
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| 1932 Aero Shell Lubricating Oil design for Shell-Mex and British Petroleum pencil, pen and ink, gouache, and airbrush on paper 41.8 x 27.8 cm © Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| 1932 Aero Shell Lubricating Oil design for Shell-Mex and British Petroleum pencil, pen and in and Gouache on paper 38.2 x 27.5 cm © Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| 1932 Aeroshell Lubricating Oil colour lithograph poster |
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| 1932 Bodiam Castle - Wherever You Go You Can Be Sure of Shell colour lithograph poster |
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| 1932 By the Rushy - Fringed Bank colour lithograph on cream wove paper 101.4 x 63.5 cm Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1932 Design for a Shell poster pencil, pen and ink, watercolour and kaoliníte, with airbrush and collage, on paper 40.6 x 27.3 cm |
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| 1932 Economise in Time, Temper, Petrol by Using Winter Shell colour lithograph poster 75.6 x 114.3 cm MoMA, New York |
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| 1932 Fortnum & Mason Ltd. Trade literature |
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| 1932 Go Great Western to Cornwall colour lithograph poster for Great Western Railway 101.6 x 63.5 cm |
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| 1932 Go Great Western to Devon colour lithograph poster 99.8 x 61.5 cm |
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| 1932 Go Great Western to Devonshire colour lithograph poster for Great Western Railway 100.5 x 61.3 cm |
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| 1932 Great Western to Cornwall colour lithograph poster 98.7 x 60.9 cm |
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