Design: E Mcknight Kaufer - Rilegato

Webb, Brian; Skipwith, Peyton

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 1851495207 ISBN 13: 9781851495207

Casa editrice: Acc Art Books, 2007

Riassunto

Design is an excellent introduction to the graphic work and design of American-born Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954). Kauffer was one of the outstanding graphic artists of his generation, creating some of the most memorable poster-images ever to adorn the billboards of Britain. Born in humble circumstances in Evansville, Montana, he progressed from itinerant theatre work to employment in a San Francisco bookshop, with time to study art. Chance meetings with a benevolent patron enabled him to continue his studies, first in Chicago, where, in 1913, he saw the Armory Show of modern European and American art, and then in Paris. On arrival in Europe he spent time in Munich , where he was overwhelmed by the posters of Ludwig Hohlwein. Reaching Paris in the autumn of 1913, his time there was curtailed by the outbreak of war. Planning to return to the US he quit France for England; however, an introduction to Frank Pick, the Publicity Manager of the London Underground, led to a commission for the first of many posters, and Kauffer remained in England for the next twenty-six years. His design, Flight, was purchased by Francis Meynell to launch the Daily Herald, and became one of the best known images of the twentieth century.
In addition to work for the London Underground Kauffer created powerful images for Shell, incorporating his innovative use of typography. He exploited a similar blend of Vorticist/abstract book design and typography for many dust-jackets, including those for The Week-End Book and Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians, whilst Roger Fry coined the phrase 'Cubisto-Cabbalistic' to describe his illustrations to Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. He extended his range to include mural and stage design. The original costumes and sets for Ninette de Valois's Checkmate had to be abandoned in Holland during the War. In 1940, frustrated at the lack of challenging employment, he and his partner, Marion Dorn, abandoned everything and returned to America, where, in the post-war years, he created a further series of memorable posters for American Airlines.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Peyton Skipwith was deputy managing director of The Fine Art Society.

Product Description:

Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890-1954) was the most celebrated graphic designer working in Britain in the twentieth century. Born in Montana, he left America before the first world war to travel throughout Europe absorbing the influences of the Cubists and the German poster artist Ludwig Hohlwein. At the onset of war, he settled in London. Seeing himself as a painter, he allied himself with the London Group and the Vorticists. He worked at Roger Fry's Omega Workshops with Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and in 1915 was commissioned by Frank Pick, then the publicity manager at London Underground. This was the beginning of a client designer relationship that lasted throughout the 1920s and '30s only ending when Kauffer returned to New York in 1940. His posters, brilliantly coloured and strikingly modern, struck London like a Cubist thunderbolt. Soon other clients, Jack Beddington at Shell, Sir Colin Anderson at the Orient Shipping line, the 'Daily Herald' (the instantly recognisable 'Birds in Flight' poster), and the Post Office were commissioning posters, brochures, book covers and illustrations. The V&A began collecting Kauffer's posters in 1915 and he was given a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1937. "E. McKnight Kauffer, Design" contains over 150 illustrations, many from original artworks, and work not before reproduced, with descriptions by Brian Webb and an introductory essay by Peyton Skipwith.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Acc Art Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1851495207
• ISBN 13: 9781851495207
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 95