DESIGN AND PAPER No. 29
POSTERS BY E. McKNIGHT KAUFFER
E. McKnight Kauffer, P. K. Thomajan [Editor]
E. McKnight Kauffer, P. K. Thomajan [Editor]: POSTERS BY E. McKNIGHT KAUFFER. DESIGN AND PAPER No. 29. New York: Marquardt & Company Fine Papers, n.d. [c. 1948]. A nearly fine softcover booklet in stiff, stapled wrappers: spine edge lightly rubbed. Interior unmarked and very clean. Out-of-print.
4.75 x 7.75 softcover booklet with 16 pages of text and black and white reproductions of the poster work of E. McKnight Kauffer. Features posters for the Friends of Greece, British petroleum,American Airlines, the NYC Subway System, Gilbey’s, Shell Oil, the Museum of Modern Art and others.
E. McKnight Kauffer (1890 - 1954) studied in evening classes at the Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco and spent six months at the Chicago Institute of Art. He was first exposed to modern European Art at the Armory Show (1913) in Chicago. It was after this show that he was sponsored by Professor McKnight of the University of Utah to study painting in Paris. Kauffer took McKnight's name out of gratitude. In 1914, he went to England and remained there until 1940. While in England he made his name as a poster artist. His first commissions were for the London Underground. The publicity manager, Frank Pick was instrumental in distributing the creative and artistic designs by Kauffer. Inspired by the artistic movements of the day, Futurism, Cubism, Art Deco and Surrealism, Kauffer created hundreds of posters for the London Underground, Shell, British Petroleum and Eastman and Sons. He also designed several book jackets and illustrations for the Nonesuch Press and Faber and Guyer. In 1930, he became Art Director of the publishing house Lund & Humphries. In 1937, the Museum of Modern Art held a one man show of his work. He returned to the United States in 1940 and did work for Greek War Relief, the US Treasury, American Airlines, the NY Subway, Alfred A. Knopf, the Container Corporation of America and the New York Times. He received the AIGA medal in 1991.
The first six of Marquardt’s DESIGN AND PAPER series of promotional booklets were portfolios showcasing a variety of artists. From Number Seven on, each issue was devoted to an individual artist. The DESIGN AND PAPER series published original booklets designed by Ladislav Sutnar, Saul Steinberg, Raymond Loewy, E. McKnight Kauffer, Erik Nitsche, George Krikorian, Georges Wilmet, Ugo Mochi, Walter Westerveldt, Clarence John Laughlin, and others. Since the booklets promoted Marquardt papers, the design and printing of each issue met the highest production standards of the day.
From “The House Organ: Design and Paper” by P. K. Thomajan from Print Vol. 5, No. 3, 1947: “The idea for this typographic gem started with Edward Alonzo Miller, then associated with The Marchbanks Press. He suggested to Oswald F. Marquardt exactly 10 years ago, the project of issuing an attractive quarterly presenting fine artwork on fine papers, thereby inspiring the increased usage of the latter. Mr. Marquardt promptly O.K.’d the idea and ever since has been O.K.’ing more and more ambitious issues.”
“The early issues were devoted to impressive assemblages of trademarks, title pages, woodcuts, specimens of hand lettering and distinctive typefaces by prominent designers. These were printed on varying shades of antique papers, wire-stitched and thread-tied for that extra touch.”
“Distribution is directed principally to printers , art directors, trade press, and important executives. In addition, many copies go to non-customers, such as instructors of journalism and the graphic arts, who use copies as noteworthy specimens for classroom discussion.” [emckk]