DOI issue:
No. 327 (June 1920)
DOI article:Taylor, Horace: The poster revival, [1]: Mr. E. McKnight Kauffer
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21360#0149
THE POSTER REVIVAL
POSTER DESIGNED BY
E, MCKNIGHT KAUFFER
and Reinhardt, are other examples of the
same thing. 00000
Although the pioneers of the poster
movement in this country have been
painters of distinction, this does not by any
means imply that an artist who has a
reputation as a painter will necessarily
design good posters. A sense of decora-
tion, originality in design and a bold use of
colour are the important qualities in de-
signing posters, and a man may be a suc-
cessful portrait or even landscape painter
without possessing these qualities to any
marked extent. The mistake has occasion-
ally been made of calling in a Royal
Academician to design a scene on the
stage, or a poster, or even to illustrate
books. It is extremely unlikely that an
artist who has been working for years at
one aspect of painting will produce a
successful design. But if you catch him
while he is young and ready to adapt him-
self to the particular limitations of some
applied art, the same artist would probably
do excellent work. Some painters of re-
putation, like Mr. Frank Brangwyn, have a
natural feeling for decoration that comes
out in all they do. But there are always
many young artists eager to design posters
who never succeed because of the appalling
lack of taste, or even appreciation of the
necessary qualities of a poster among those
who commission the work. 000
The new poster movement has had the
advantage that it owed its origin to an
enterprising advertiser, and not to artists.
The largest number of good posters in
recent years have been those advertising
the London Underground Railways, and
the two principal contributors to this
brilliant series of posters have been Mr.
Gregory Brown and Mr. E. McKnight
Kauffer, two artists whose paintings show
an abundance of the qualities referred to
above. 0 0 0 0 0 0
A selection of Mr. Kauffer’s designs is
here reproduced. The North Downs and
Oxhey Woods give a good idea of his work
in landscape. The other landscapes are
more experimental and lose a little here by
not being in colour, but when one thinks
of the difference between the appeal of such
designs and that of the average photograph,
the value of a poster and the importance of
POSTER DESIGNED BY
E. MCKNIGHT KAUFFER
143
POSTER DESIGNED BY
E, MCKNIGHT KAUFFER
and Reinhardt, are other examples of the
same thing. 00000
Although the pioneers of the poster
movement in this country have been
painters of distinction, this does not by any
means imply that an artist who has a
reputation as a painter will necessarily
design good posters. A sense of decora-
tion, originality in design and a bold use of
colour are the important qualities in de-
signing posters, and a man may be a suc-
cessful portrait or even landscape painter
without possessing these qualities to any
marked extent. The mistake has occasion-
ally been made of calling in a Royal
Academician to design a scene on the
stage, or a poster, or even to illustrate
books. It is extremely unlikely that an
artist who has been working for years at
one aspect of painting will produce a
successful design. But if you catch him
while he is young and ready to adapt him-
self to the particular limitations of some
applied art, the same artist would probably
do excellent work. Some painters of re-
putation, like Mr. Frank Brangwyn, have a
natural feeling for decoration that comes
out in all they do. But there are always
many young artists eager to design posters
who never succeed because of the appalling
lack of taste, or even appreciation of the
necessary qualities of a poster among those
who commission the work. 000
The new poster movement has had the
advantage that it owed its origin to an
enterprising advertiser, and not to artists.
The largest number of good posters in
recent years have been those advertising
the London Underground Railways, and
the two principal contributors to this
brilliant series of posters have been Mr.
Gregory Brown and Mr. E. McKnight
Kauffer, two artists whose paintings show
an abundance of the qualities referred to
above. 0 0 0 0 0 0
A selection of Mr. Kauffer’s designs is
here reproduced. The North Downs and
Oxhey Woods give a good idea of his work
in landscape. The other landscapes are
more experimental and lose a little here by
not being in colour, but when one thinks
of the difference between the appeal of such
designs and that of the average photograph,
the value of a poster and the importance of
POSTER DESIGNED BY
E. MCKNIGHT KAUFFER
143