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I 



UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN UBRARIES 




LISIIMIY 

Hr 



I 

I 



FOSTER. 
DESIGN 



J}ul 



LAIT PUR DE LA VINGEANNE 

THfeOPHILE-ALEXANDRE StEINLEN 
(1894) 



FOSTER. 
DESIGN 



Charles Matlack Price 



NewhtuI Enlarged Edition 

Vlvstraud with Sixtyfiue RtpmdtKtiont in 

Colon and One Hundred and Fifty 

mMonotone 



® GEORGE W. BRICKA ^l)k 







Copyrighted, 19 13 
By George W. Bricka 

Copyrighted, 1922 
By George W. Bricka 



Cftft 



Foreword 



FOREWORD to the ORIGINAL EDITION 

In the preparation of this book the author was prompted by various 
considerations, and in its presentation has endeavored to give to these 
several considerations their proper relative importance. 

While the book is designed to possess a certain historical value, it 
is intended primarily to develop an accurate, intelligent, comprehensive 
and basic critical analysis of poster design in Europe and America. 

The illustrations, covering the entire range of significant posters to 
the present date, have been selected and arranged with much care, and 
with an idea of showing the underlying principles involved in poster-design 
with the greatest clearness, and only by examples which are the best from 
the greatest number of points of excellency, taking into consideration the 
several elements entering into their design. 

It has seemed advisable not to confuse the purely aesthetic and 
psychological principles of design with any considerations of technical points 
relating to the actual details of painting, or with points relating to mechanic 
cal processes of reproduction and the like. These no less important practi- 
cal considerations of the subject may be better presented in books devoted 
entirely to such matters. 

A co-relative motive in the selection of the illustrations of the 
book has also been the desire to preserve, in a permanent and convenient 
form, many interesting and excellent posters which are hard to obtain, or 
of inconvenient bulk to preserve. 

Many of the illustrations have been secured with considerable dif- 
ficulty, some, indeed, being of a scarcity which makes their acquisition 
quite impossible to-day. In addition to these, it is my pleasure, owing to 
the generous co-operation of certain designers, to include some hitherto 
unpublished drawings. 



VI Foreword 

In the matter of the actual size of the reproductions, as they appear, 
it may be stated at the outset that a poster design is successful or poor 
regardless of its actual size. The actual dimensions of a poster form 

9 

its most superficial part, and for this reason I have adhered to a more or 
less uniform size for the illustrations. The design, not the size, makes the 
poster, and as considerations of design form the basis of the book, an 
element so purely arbitrary and unessential as size may be disregarded. 
The titles of all posters reproduced in the book will be printed in italics, 
for convenience in reference. 

I take this opportunity to express my thanks for courteous assist- 
ance rendered me by Mr. F. D. Casey of "Collier's Weekly,'* Mr. E. S. 
Duneka of "Harper's Magazine," Mr. J. H. Chapin of "Scribner's Maga- 
zine," Mr. E. S. Rounds of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company, Mr. 
Edward Pearson Chapman, Mr. Earnest Elmo Calkins, Mr. Bruce Ed- 
wards, Mr. Guernsey Moore, Mr. Robert J. Wildhack, Mr. Adolph Treid- 
ler, Mr. Edward Pcnfield, Mr. Hamilton King, Mr. Walter Primley, Mr. 
Julian E. Garnsey, and Miss Helen Dryden. For valuable suggestions in 
the preparation of this volume, Mr. H. Calkins, Jr., of Stewart and 
Company, Publishers. I wish also to express my indebtedness to the fol- 
lowing European and American lithographers and printers: Imp. Chaix, 
Imp. Lemercie, Imp. F. Champenois, Imp. C. H. Vemeau, Imp. Edw. 
Ancourt, Grafia, Schon & Maison, G. Schuh & Cie., Metropolitan Print- 
ing Company and the Miner Lithographic Company. 

In conclusion, I would say that it has been my sincere endeavor to 
present a collection of thoroughly interesting and significant illustrations, 
with pertinent text to form a definitive treatise in a field where no work of 
the kind has hitherto appeared or is now available. 

C. Matlack Price. 
New York, September, 19 12. 



• 



Foreword VII 

FOREWORD io the NEW EDITION. 

Since the original writmg of ''POSTERS,'' in 1911-121 remarkable 
developments have taken place in the field of display advertising. 

From the early days of the poster as a ''fad,'' or an opportunity 
for the art student or the play-hours of an illustrator, it had developed 
from 1893 to 19 1 2 as a commercially recognized and demonstrably valu- 
able method of advertising a wide variety of products. 

The World War added a great and dramatic chapter to the de- 
velopment and publicity value of the poster, and in the years since the war 
the design of posters has attained a higher level than at any time previous. 

This is especially true of the "twenty-four-sheet," or large bill- 
board poster, upon which large sums of money are being spent today by 
national advertisers. Theatrical posters have waned almost to the point 
of extinction, and production costs have stopped the making of those inter- 
esting smaller posters which used to announce the new issues of the leading 
magazines. In place of these, however, there is a strong showing of mo- 
tion picture posters, tobacco and cigarette posters, and posters advertising 
food products, soaps» automobile tires and national makes of clothing. 
Many of these attain a high order of poster merit, and at the present writ- 
ing show a continuous improvement in simplicity and large effect of design, 
as well as in their lettering. 

The present edition of this book will, it is hoped, fill the normal 
demand which has existed since the previous edition was exhausted. Ad- 
vertisers, advertising agencies, publicity men, libraries, committees, stu- 
dents and teachers will find in it all the essentials of poster education, all 
the elements of critical analysis which commended the previous edition and 
made it the standard treatise on poster design. In addition, the writer 
has tried, in this revised and enlarged edition, to bring the illustrations 



VIII Foreword 

and text as nearly as possible up to date by including many of the most im- 
portant posters which have appeared in recent years. 

By way of being more accurate and specifici the title of the book 
has been changed from ''Posters" to 'Toster Design," since the text was, 
and is, designed mainly to develop a critical faculty in creating or judging 
the poster from the ang^e of design rather than of advertising. 

Virtually all the text and illustrations of the previous edition have 
been retained, and the revision has taken the form of enlargement rather 
than of substitution. The most important substitution is that of Chapter 
VI, "Posters and the World War," for the former Chapter VI, "American 
Theatrical Posters," the latter being somewhat out of date. 

For permission to reproduce new illustrations, the writer wishes to 
express his sincere gratitude to the artists, advertisers, and advertising 
agencies who have extended their courtesy in the matter, especially to Mr. 
Heyworth Campbell, Mr. F. A. Wilson, The Erickson Company, Mr. 
J. W. Mettler, Messrs. Hart, Schaffner and Marx, The Holeproof Hosiery 
Company, The Edison Company and B. T. Batsford, Ltd., of England, 
and hopes that the generous and widespread appreciation which was ac- 
corded to the earlier editions of "Posters" will be extended to the new 
"Poster Design." 

C. Matlack Price. 

New York,October, 1922, 



Contents IX 



CONTENTS 

Foreword to the Original Edition v 

Foreword to the New Edition vii 

Chapter I. — Posters Pages 1-14 

The subject in general. Points regarding poster design. The use 
of color. Psychological impressions. Scale. Some general rules 
illustrated by reproductions of posters by T.-Alexandre Steinlen, 
Jules Cheret, Robert J. Wildhack, Tom Hall and Earl Horter. 
Chapter II. — ^The Work of Jules Ch6ret . Pages 15-31 

The French Poster as exemplified by the work of Jules Cheret, 
illustrated with reproductions of typical examples of his work. 
Chapter III. — Posters Continental and English Pages 33-127 
A comprehensive survey of poster design, paying special attention 
to national characteristics — France; the work of Theophile-Alex- 
andre Steinlen, Alphonse Mucha, Eugene Grasset, Henri de Toul- 
ouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, George Meunier, Lucien Metivet, 
A. Cossard, Jean Paleologue, and others. — England; the develop- 
ment of poster design as exemplified by the work of Frederick 
Walker, Aubrey Beardsley, Walter Crane, R. Anning Bell, the 
''Beggarstaff Brothers," J. W. Simpson, Gordon Craig, Dudley 
Hardy, Maurice Greiffenhagen, J. Hassall, Will Owen and others. 
— Germany; the modern poster; the work of Ludwig Hohlwein 
and others. — Belgium; the steamship posters of H. Cassiers. — 
Italy; typical examples. — Switzerland; the "Socictc Suisse d'Affiches 
Artistiques." — Spain; the slow development of the art; the modern 
work of "Marco" and others. — Hungary; note on the work of four 
designers. — Russia; the genius of Leon Bakst. — Japan; poster 
values in Japanese art; an example of Toyokuni. 



Contents 

Chapter IV. — ^American Posters Pages 129-213 

The growth of poster design in America. The yearly increasing 
development and improvement. The work of Will H. Bradley, Ed- 
ward Penfield, Frank Hazenplug, Louis Rhead, J. J. Gould, Max- 
field Parrish, Robert J. Wildhadc, J. C. Lcyendedcer, Louis 
Fancher, Leon Gordon, Adolph Tricdler, M. C. Perley, F. Nelson 
Abbott, John E. Sheridan, Walter Whitehead, Neysa McMein and 
others. 

Chapter V. — ^The Work of Edward Penfield Pages 215-249 

A critical analysis of the work of Mr. Penfield paying particular 
attention to the development of his style. Illustrated with many 
rare examples. 

Chapter VI. — ^Posters and the World War Pages 251-297 

Some of the more salient features, illustrated with fifty-one pos- 
ter reproductions by Brangwyn, Hassall, Lipscomb, (England); 
Leroux, Faivrc, Jonas, Scott, (France); Benda, (Poland); Preissig, 
(Czechoslovakia) ; Mauzan, (Italy); Falls, Utaff, Bull, Sterner, 
Sarka, Raliegh, Ashe, Whithead, Leyendedcer, Cooper, Illian, 
Sheridan, Young, Foringer, Smith, Fisher, Herter, Hopper, Emer- 
son, Taylor, Wright, Grant, Flagg, Penfield and Welsh, (America). 

Chapter VIL — Some Magazine Covers Pages 299-355 

A critical and comparative study of the poster values of certain 
typical magazine covers by Edward Penfield, Maxfield Parrish, J. J. 
Gould, Guernsey Moore, The Leyendedcer Brothers, Robert J. 
Wildhack, Adolph Treidler and others. 

Chapter VIIL — ^The Capacity of the Poster Pages 357-364 

Some concluding theories with regard to the finer points involved 
in the conception and analysis of poster design. 

Index Pages 365-368 



List of Artists Illustrated 



XI 



LIST OF ARTISTS ILLUSTRATED 



F. Nelson Abbott . 
Anonymous . 

E. M. AsH£ . 

L60N Bakst . 
ۥ C. Bbale . 
Aubrey Beardsley . 
"Beggarstaff Brothers 
R. Anning Bell 
Wladislaw T. Benda 
Pierre Bonnard 
Will H. Bradley . 
Frank Brangwyn . 
George Brehm 

F. Gregory Brown . 
Helen Byrne Bryce 
Charles Livingston Bull 
Cecil L. Burns 

Blendon Campbell 
H. Cassiers . 
Fred Chapman 
Jules Ch£ret 
F. G. Cooper . 

A. COSSARD 

E. A. Cox 
Gordon Craig 
Walter Crane 

Edmund Davenport 
Helen Dryden 



17 



II 



9» 21 



257 



13 



23 



199 

259» 267, 275 
279 

125 

201 

. 63, 65 

• 7i» 73 
67 

273> 295 

53 

i» i33» i35» 137 

265 

171 

- 87, 93 

93 

277» 341 
267 



191 

105, 107 

271 

25» 27, 29, 31 
183, 185,285 

57 
89 

77 
69 

207 
343 



XII 



List of Artists Illustrated 



Ruth Eastman 
Casper Emerson 

Jules Able Faivre 
C. B. Falls . 
Louis Fancher 
Harrison Fisher 
James Montgomery 

Au E. FORINGER 



Flagg 



Leon Gordon 
J. J. Gould . 
Gordon Grant 
Eugene Gr asset 
Maurice Greiffenhagen 



Tom Hall 

GUNNAR HaLLSTROM 

Dudley Hardy 
J. Hassall 
Frank Hazenplug 

WiLMOT HeITLAND 

Albert Herter 
A. Hohenstein 

LUDWIG HOHLWEIN 

E. Hopper 
Earl Horter 
August Hutaff 

George Illian 



LuciEN Jonas 



E. McKnight Kauffer 



347 
291 

253» 257 
277»283,35i 

i73» 175 
289 

295 

289 

205 

i45» 317 
295 

SI 
83 

13 
109 

79 
81,263 

141 

203 

289 

119 

97, 99, lOI 

291 

13 
277 

287 

257 



91 



List of Artists Illustrated 



XIII 



AUGUSTE LeROUX 

F. X. Leyendecker 
J. C. Leyendecker . 
Guy Lipscombe 

Marco . 
N. Mauzan . 
M. Mazza 
Neysa McMein 
L. Metlicovitz 
lucien m6tivet 
George Meunier . 
Harry Morse Meyers 
Guernsey Moore . 
Wallace Morgan . 
Alphonse Mucha . 

William Oberhardt 
Will Owen . 

Jean Paleologue . 
Maxfield Parrish 
Herbert Paus 
C. Pellegrini 
Edward Penfield . 



M. C. Perley 
C. Coles Phillips 
"P. K. S." 
V. Preissig 



i53» i55» 



i57» i59» 161,28 



147 



39i 



257 

3^i» 3^3 

3^5»3i7»3i9 
261 

123 
269 
117 

i93» 345 

361 

55 

209 

317* 319 
287 

4i» 43» 45» 47 

209 
81 

59 



» i49» i5i» 33i» 333» 335 

353 
121 

139, 214, 217, 219, 221, 223, 225, 227, 229, 
23i» 233, 235, 237, 239, 241, 243, 245, 247, 
249» 295, 297, 301, 303, 305, 307, 309, 311, 

3i3»3i5»359- 

187 

195 

95 



XIV 



List of Artists Illustrated 



Henry Raleigh 
Louis Rhead . 
R. T. RoussEL 

Charles Sarka 
Georges Scott 
John E. Sheridan 
J. W. Simpson 
Jessie Wilcox Smith 
ThIiophile-Alexandre Steinlen 
Frederick Dorr Steele 
Albert Sterner . 

F. Walker Taylor 

George Tippel 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 

Adolph Treidler . 

toyokuni 

Frederick Walker 
F. H. Warren 
H. Devitt Welsh . 
Walter Whitehead 
Roy Marvin Wilcox 
Robert J. Wildhack 
George Wright 

Crawford Young . 



II 



Frontispiece, 35 



163, 



165, 



197 



177, 179 



167, 



279 

143 
85 

279 

287, 349 

75 
213, 289 

37» 363 

355 
277 

291 
103 

49» 50 

181,339 
127 

61 

93 

293 
211, 279 

189 

169, 337 
291 

287 



Chap.I POSTERS 



CHAPTER I. 
The Subject in General 

Although the poster stands where all who run may read, and at 
though we spontaneously admire, or thoughtlessly condenm it, few ever 
stop to formulate a reason for doing the one or the other, or to establish 
a critical working standpoint in the matter. 

Most people honestly and kindly refrain from random criticism of 
etchings or Japanese prints for obvious reasons, but consider, perhaps not 
entirely without cause, that since the poster is literally thrown in their 
faces, they have a natural right to discuss It even from entirely superficial 
viewpoints. Nor is it going too far to say that the principles underl]ring 
die design of a good poster are no less subtle, or less dependent upon 
purely abstract tenets of Art, than are the principles underlying the design 
of a good etching or a good Japanese print. 

The poster design must have a dear simplicity of motive and a 
vigorous, sometimes bizarre, conception in design and treatment. It is to 
be supposed that until a few years ago the artist or designer considered 
himself above his task when he was working on these ^'advertisements,'* 
and failed to produce a successful poster because he failed to realize that 
he was engaged either in a difficult problem, or in one worthy of his best 
efforts. It was left to the French to show the world how much of beauty 
and of inspiration could enter into the poster, and it was many years before 
the designing world at large ! tamed its lesson (if indeed, it may yet be 
said to have learned) from the daring, sparkling sheets of flaming color 
that have decorated the streets of Paris. 



2 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL Chap.I 

And this elusive, subtle entity — the poster — ^seems almost to defy 
definition and to baffle analysis. It is sp meteoric, so explosive, that only 
in disjointed paragraphs can it be suggested 

Hamilton King, who stands with those at the head of poster 
design in America, has epitomized some essentials in expressing his 
theories, the grasp of these essentials, however, being the result of unusu- 
ally intelligent and appreciative studies in France. 

He says that the poster should ''seize a moment — exploit a situa- 
tion with one daring sweep of the pencil or brush. The poster is not a 
portrait, nor a study — it is an impression^ — a flash of line, a sweep of 
color ... all that can be told of a tale in the passing of an instant. 
It is dramatic and imaginative, yet it is saliently sincere." 

Often it verges upon the caricature, always it is exaggerated, and it 
is by no means marred by a touch of humor — in conception or treatment, 
though this should always combine unmistakable refinement with a certain 
degree of subtlety. 

The poster must first catch the eye, and having caught it, hold the 
gaze, and invite further though brief inspection. The advertisement which 
is its reason for existence must be conveyed directly, clearly and pictorially. 
It must be well designed, well colored, well printed and well drawn — ^and 
these qualifications are stated in their order of Importance. Above all, the 
design — chic^ bizarre, an inspiration — a flash of thought in the brain-pan, 
flaring up in a blaze of line and color, however short-lived. It should be 
pyrotechnic, and should depend for its impression, like a rocket, upon the 
rushing flight of its motion, and the brilliant, even if momentary, surprise 
of its explosion. 

Unquestionably our greatest mistake, next to our failure to take it 
seriously enough, is to take it too seriously. 

A great many points enter into the consideration of poster design, 



Ckap.I POSTER DESIGN 



and so intangible, to a certain extent, are the motives in a successful poster 
that periiaps a negative enumeration is a more graphic method of analysis 
than any other. 

By an understanding of certain principles to be avoided, and an 
elimination of these ; the more essential, though often elusive, must remain 
in greater clearness, and many examples may be rejected at a glance, leav- 
ing a narrower field to consider, and a range capable of a more definite 
form of analysis. 

Broadly, one would say, avoid three distances, masses of small 
letters, or too many letters of any kind, too elaborate a chiaroscuro, too 
intricate detail, and ill-studied values in shade and shadow. Although 
many of these dangerous motives may appear in good and successful 
posters, one will observe that they appear usually in the work of men 
capable of handling them with a compelling and masterful hand. Certainly 
their avoidance is more than a mere matter of discretion. 

The safer course lies in simplicity, since the simplest poster is 
always the most effective, though obvious as this paradox may seem, it is 
ignored in nine cases out of ten. 

Enumerating the above points, it must always be kept in mind that 
a poster, as such, is a failure if it is not efective, and the obvious deduction 
from this is that anything likely to detract from the efect is plainly dan- 
gerous, and to be handled with the greatest care. 

In the first place, the use of more than one distance, or picture- 
plane, implies perspective, and in many cases, a background. The action 
in a poster should take place at the front of the stage, preferably as 
though thrown on a screen; and as a background necessarily introduces 
objects too small to be readily understood at a distance, it Is very likely 
to confuse the principal figure in the composition, and render the principal 
letters — the raison iFetre of the thing — ^more or less difficult to read. 



4 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL ChapA 

Distances, if introduced at all must be suggested rather than definitely 
drawn, and must in any case be thoroughly subordinate to the main action. 
Thus manipulated, they do not detract from the strength of the composi- 
tion, and the question and occasional value of their uses is taken up- from 
a more theoretical standpoint later. It will be seen, however, that a back- 
ground appears in none of the illustrations of this chapter, and it may be 
said that these were selected as examples of thoroughly successful posters. 

In the second place, with regard to lettering; masses of small let- 
ters are not only useless, being illegible except at close range, but tend to 
confuse the composition, and detract from the importance of the principal 
figures, and the general clearness of the conception. The same, in part, 
may be said of too much lettering of any kind« One must not stop to read 
a poster — ^it must be seen and understood in its entirety at a glance. 

Incidentally, it should be remembered that lettering arranged 
vertically— one letter under another, is quite inexcusable, though many 
designers thoughtlessly stand words on end in a deluded groping for 
originality which they have vaguely felt to be lacking in the main design of 
the poster. While Egjrptian and Chinese characters were intended to be 
read in columns, Roman letters have always been arranged in horizontal 
lines, and quite putting aside the unpardonable anachronism of arranging 
them in any other way, the offence against legibility alone should strike 
one -immediately. 

With regard to unity of principal motive and lettering — a most 
important point — it is rather difficult to make rules to which ample excep« 
tion may not be taken. Generally speaking, the best poster is one in which 
the figure or keynote is a unit with the letters — the one entirely lost with* 
out the other. This has been almost Invariably achieved in the work of 
M. Cheret, and Mr. Penfield. 

It must not be supposed that this unity necessarily implies an 



Chap.I THE USE OF COLOR 



actual incorporation of figure and legendi desirable as such an arrangement 
is ; it is rather a question of relative scale, and mistakes in both directions 
are common. Generally, the mass, the telling quantity of the poster, 
utterly outweighs the lettering, which suffers eclipse, in consequence, and 
tends to make the whole rather an ''advertising picture^' than a poster. 
Sometimes the noise of the lettering drowns the action of the principal 
figure, though this is far more rare than the first Either will readily be 
conceded to be most unfortunate as well as unnecessary, if only one weigh 
the relative values of the two members in the preliminary sketch. 

In this connection it seems important at the outset to cultivate a 
keen discrimination between "Posters" proper, and ''Advertising Pic- 
tures." The first form the subject of this book — the second must, for 
obvious reasons, be rejected. There is no limit to this dass, for any pic- 
ture, of whatever kind, may have a line of advertising tacked to it (or as 
readily taken away), the whole presenting a sheet in which no element of 
original deugn has entered, and which attracts, or fails to attract solely 
by reason of the intrinsic interest or stupidity of the picture, as such. 

In the third general rule, regarding an elaborate system of light 
and shade, or much intricate detail, it is obvious that much of its value 
is wasted on a poster, and not only becomes lost when seen across a street, 
but has a tendency to produce a monotone in mass — a fatal defect where 
a strikingly unbalanced composition is so essential. Good posters of 
elaborate chiaroscuro or detail are good in spite of it — not because of it. 

Color in posters, relatively speaking, is not nearly so important as 
design, and it may be said that while bad coloring cannot seriously mar a 
good design, good coloring will not save a poor design. One has seen 
excellent posters in black and white, and wretched posters in "six colors and 
gold." The ideal poster will present, of course, a strong, impulsive design, 
in bold and dashing lines, and its story will be told in a "sweep of line and 



6 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL ChapA 

a flash of color/* Nor should it be forgotten that it is not the number of 
colors used) but rather their selection and disposition that count. In the 
matter of poster-coloring, the work of M. Cheret shows a master*hand, 
nor can his schemes be said to be based on any theoretical scales of har- 
mony. If any theory existed at all, it was that a sensation of surprise, a 
mental shock, must be produced even at the risk of violent chromatic dis- 
cords. His favorite trio— red, yellow and blue, in their most vivid inten- 
sities, recklessly placed next each other, invariably strike a clarion note — 
and make a good poster. 

A fundamental principle embracing all initial paradoxes of design, 
and one perhaps more important than anything in the conception of a 
successful poster, concerns itself with a question of scale. 

With regard to this element, it may be said that a design will make 
a good or a poor poster whether it be a book-plate, or a six-sheet fence- 
placard. Mere size, mere superficial area, will not save a weak poster, 
were it magnified a hundred times, while a book-plate or a magazine-cover 
may fulfil the severest test, point by point, as a good piece of poster-work. 

A book-shop, indeed, has often attracted one across the street by 
reason of the strength of design in certain book-covers, of the foreign, 
paper-bound variety, in the window, while the average theatrical poster 
occupying a space ten feet by twenty has not caused any sensation of inter- 
est, either optical or mental. 

This matter of scale should be constantly borne in mind, and the 
discerning eye will readily appreciate strong ''poster-values" in many small 
yet striking instances. 

Perhaps the clearest illustration of exactly what underlies this 
''scale" so essential to a good poster, is to consider the sense-impression 
given by the familiar Egyptian mortuary statuette of Osiris. This figure 
is never more than twelve inches in height, and is usually much less, yet the 



Chap. I PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPRESSIONS 



distinct impression of scale given by its subtle proportions is that of a 
colossus. The analogy in a poster is the understanding that something 
larger than the drawing itself must be suggested In fine, it is a sense of 
^^suggestive proportion" which will make a figure four feet high seem 
life-size, or a figure at life-size suggest an idea larger than the actual 
boundaries of the paper. This idea is as absolutely essential and equally 
as elusive as are all the most vital points underlying the conception of a 
design which shall possess the best poster-values. 

As a concluding generality it is eminently important to remember 
that there are two distinct kinds of impression^ and that as the success of 
the poster depends upon the kind of impression it makes, we should keenly 
understand these two great divisions. 

There are a group of impressions which are arrived at by processes 
of the mind, and an equally large group which are arrived at by processes 
of the senses. The first we reach by memory, by connotation, by logic, by 
comparison, or by any other process peculiar to the human mind. The 
second is generally stronger, and is instantaneous and vivid, and though it 
may partake of certain properties of the first, any borrowed quality has 
become so much a matter of instinct as to bring the mind into very little 
play. 

It is obvious that it is to the second of these groups of impressions 
that the poster should be tuned. It should not be a matter for elaborate 
study, or comprehension through comparison, but should make its story 
felt instinctively by the senses. It should be different from a picture in 
exactly the same way that a play is different from a book — ^thc one appeal- 
ing primarily through the senses, the other through the mind. 

Perhaps the clearest working rudiments that can be reached, after 
a study of fundamental theories, arc to be had graphically, by a careful 
analysis of the illustrations in this chapter, taken point by point, — rccapitu- 



8 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL Chap.I 



lating the features happily conspicuous by their absence, as well as those 
which go to make the posters successful. 

In M. Steinlen's milk poster* can be seen what may be made of 
an essentially simple and possibly uninteresting theme. ^^Pure milk from 
Vingeanne'* — ^what more unsuggestive or even banal? And yet for 
charm of conception, simplicity of motive and strength of execution, it were 
difficult to find a more thoroughly successful poster. The action is clear, 
the presentation graphic, and the whole, in line and color, undeniably 
strong. 

M. Steinlen has not confused the eye or mind with any distances or 
elaborate flights of draughtsmanship. His story is vigorously and strongly 
told, at the front of the stage, with a compelling charm that holds this 
poster in the mind long after it has gone from sight. With the exception 
of the lettering, the poster was immortalized in a set of nursery tiles '' — z 
bright-haired, demure little girl, with a sweet and guileless face and crim- 
son frock, drinking milk from a bowl, impatiently beset by three envious, 
aspiring, hopeful cats . . . " 

In the poster for *'Yvette Guilbert/^ by Jules Cheret, one may see 
a no less excellent presentation of values than in the example by M. Stein- 
len, though the two designs are obviously conceived along different lines. 
One is full of vivacious superficiality — the other of demure reserve. 
Granted, there has been only one Cheret— of his work more shall be said 
later; the immediate consideration being an analysis of this sparkling 
sketch of MUe. Yvette Guilbert as a poster. 



'^The illustrations in this chapter on initial essentials are not selected with a view 
to any dassificadon by period or nationality, the basis being simply an aim to present certain 
fundamental theories in the clearest and most direct way. 



YVETTE GUILBERT 

Jules Ch£r£t 

9 



lo SPECIFIC INSTANCES Chap.I 

First, it is simple. Second, its story is told in a simultaneous flash 
of three impressions. The eye is attracted, with an irresistible sense of 
elation, however momentary, to the chxc^ joyous figure of a very prepossess- 
ing singer, and at the same instant, and with no conscious effort, it may be 
learned not only who she is but where she may be seen, and at what hour. 
The whole story in the fraction of a second — nothing to be deciphered, 
studied, or left to run the risk of being overlooked. 

The whole poster has been seen, the whole reason for its existence 
made manifest in a flash — ^but the impression of pleasure, and one might 
almost say of irresponsibility in the matter is more lasting. It is a good 
poster. 

And let it be reiterated, at the risk of repetition; there is no back- 
ground, no elaborate detail, no masses of confusing and irrelevant lettering, 
nor any single line or motive that has not been seen and comprehended in 
its entirety in the first passing glance. 

In Mr. Wildhack's ''September Scribner's^' magazine poster, it 
might be said that the height of poster design in America has been reached. 
It were hard to conceive the possibility of so simple, yet so strong a sugges- 
tion of a potential reality at a single glance. 

This poster flares from a magazine stand, and carries with it a 
group of physical sensations as instantaneous as they are irresistible. One 
knows that it is summer, that it is very warm, with the sun almost over- 
head, and that one is on a sea-beach. The vista of dismal city streets is 
lost for the moment, and one feels almost grateful to this bit of colored 
paper for its vacation suggestions. And yet how little of actual delinea- 
tion the mind has to feed upon in this poster. The secret lies in an ap- 
parently unerring conception, on the part of the designer, of the psychology 
of the thing. The essentials have been thrown into the limelight, to the 



c««'i«j of SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

.^•nt^'Uvi"- Robert J. Wiidhack ( 1906) 



12 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL Chap.I 



exclusion of confusing detail. No sea, no horizon, no summer pavilion 
have been crowded in. One knows that a flat monotone of fine-textured 
grey, in the blinding, shadeless out-of-doors, is a beach. That a giri in 
spotless white would not be standing in a desert, is an idea which is grasped 
and dismissed in the first registration of thought between eye and mind. 
The conception, indeed, is so instinctive as to be instantaneous and to involve 
no mental effort. The downward shadow makes the sun almost a physical 
as well as an optical sensation. The masterful distinction, as well as the 
delineation of shade and shadow were worthy of a scientist as much as an 
artist. As to the actual charms of the lady — the Venus of Milo has not 
many reincarnations to-day, and it is safe to say that a poster is more con- 
vincing, and strikes nearer home, if it is not too idealistic. Even if it 
plays to the gallery, none may gainsay its right to do so, since it comes into 
our midst unasked, and tries to please us by its simplidty and naivete. 
When one asks for bread, he does not want a stone, and desiring a fellow 
human being, does not want a statue. To complete the chain of absolute 
appropriateness, borne out by the name of the month and the name of the 
magazine, the latter is depicted no less saliently and graphically than the 
former; and the entire poster is eminently sufficient unto itself, borrowing 
no unexplained motive in its delineation, and leaving no unexplained motive 
to breed conjecture beyond its boundaries. 

Perhaps less subtle, but certainly no less striking from the point of 
values, is the ^'EUen Terry^' poster, announcing with distinct strength the 
fact that the feature of the magazine for this month was to be an install- 
ment of the Memoirs of Miss Ellen Terry. This poster is the result of 
clever collaboration on the part of Tom Hall, who designed it, and of 
Earl Horter who drew it, and the general scarcity of their work is 
equalled only by the excellence of this particular example. 



CoM,n of McCLURE'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

»<CJ«r«'» UaKoin,. XoM HALL AND EARL HoRTER ( 1907) 

'3 



14 THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL Chap. I 



It seems pertinent to comment on its strong theatrical qualities, and 
to suggest that this magazine poster has audaciously invaded another ter- 
ritory and triumphantly captured the laurels which seem to be so per- 
sistently neglected by the stage. For it presents such excellent points of 
simplicity in motive with unbalanced composition, adequate lettering, bold 
coloring, refined caricature in the short-hand portrait, and general self- 
sufficiency throughout, that were it to appear on a theatrical bulletin it 
would strike a loud and bracing note in that monotone of mediocrity, and 
mark an epoch, as it were, in the colorless and characterless annals of 
theatrical "paper." 

And with all the points which one has tried to bring up in this chap- 
ter, a more critical analysis can be brought to bear upon the following 
consideration of French, English, Continental and American Posters. 



^D 



Chap.II JULES CHER ET 13 



CHAPTER II. 

The Work of Jules Cheret. 

In electing to submit the work of Jules Cheret before entering 
upon any general discussion of posters in France, one has been impelled by 
the fact that his work is illustrative of so many points of excellency in this 
art that a review of it partakes largely of qualities of a general nature. 
These posters are all so excellent in so many particulars — they are all so 
full of that elusive element of audacity so desirable in a poster, that an 
analysis can point to no defects or express regret for no details of their 
composition. 

Cheret is utterly original, generally subversive, and sometimes al- 
most exasperating in an audacity which throws all precedent to the iirinds, 
and launches lightly dad female figures, floating in space— ephemeral as so 
many soap-bubbles, sparkling, iridescent, and explosive. They seem 
evoked from airy nothingness, bom of daring and fantastic gaiety, and seem 
joyously to beckon the beholder on with them in a madcap, elusive chase 
after pleasure. Nor do they ever overstep the proprieties, for they never 
come to earth, and their radiant fairy grace, startling and provocative pos- 
tures and actions seem hardly to belong to mere pictures. 

Cheret lives ^^in a sort of fairy world, where playful summer light- 
ning is not unknown. His airy figures of women and children float in space, 
and so gracious are they as types of happiness that they seem to live in an 
irradiation.'' 

It has been said that to describe his work adequately we must 
needs "borrow from this decorator certain of his colors — a lemon yellow. 



I6 JULES CHER ET Chap.ll 

a geranium red and a midnight blue, and even then we should lack the 
cunning of the artist so to juxtapose these as to reproduce his effects/' 
Obviously, his work appears at a disadvantage in monotone reproduction, 
though his wonderfully living line and frantically bold compositions tell 
their own story and present values which are painfully lacking in the most 
ambitious chromatic attempts on our own bill-boards. 

In motive, Cheret almost invariably chooses a girl for his central 
figure ; in action, he always makes her flashing with life, sparkling with a 
naive irresponsibility, and a very impersonation of chic. 

**Yvette Guilber^^ has vivacity in the mere curve of her eyebrow, 
Loie Fuller is joyously balanced in an aerial fire*dance at the **Folies Ber* 
gcrel* and the lady of the "/o*" cigarette paper sketch seems lingering 
but an instant to fling some bit of gay raillery over her shoulder before 
she disappears. The motion in the "Palais de Glace'' posters needs only 
the music to which the care-free skaters disport themselves, gracefully bal- 
anced like birds on the wing, or with tantalizing smile and beckoning arm, 
enticing the beholder to join them, while the ballet in the "Coulisses de 
TOperd* is instinct with life and grace in every line. And with Cheret, it 
need not necessarily be the delineation of action or personality in his sub- 
ject, for what could be more filled with that joyous audacity than the 
saucy "Diaphane^' poster for a face-powder, or the vivacious grace in the 
"Saxoleine^' advertisement for an article no more romantic than coal-oil? 

This is Cheret — ^this capacity, almost an instinct, for the seizing of 
the keynote of his given subject, and for the portrayal of it in an unmistak- 
able way, with the fewest possible strokes of his unerring pencil. 

Nor is his color less daring than his composition and line. He 
realizes how greatly audacity counts in a poster, and flings masses of vivid 
reds, yellows and blues in dazzling contrasts, never jarring but alwa3rs 
startling. In his lettering he never forgets that he has a story to tell — a story 



COULISSES DE L'OPERA 

JOLES CHiFET (1891) 

n 



i8 JULES CHERET Chaf.ll 



BBHHBBaBBaBBH 



that should be as plain and should give as instantaneous an impression as 
his figure, and he has never sacrificed the clearness and legibility of the 
advertisement on his posters to any abstract tenets of art. 

In short, he grasped (if, indeed, he may not be said to have origin* 
ated) the idea that the poster must be a brilliant tour de force — an end 
which shall justify the means of its execution and present in no matter how 
extravagant a manner, a strong but pleasing shock to eye and mind, together 
with the clearest and simplest possible expression of the subject in hand 
to be advertised 

An English critic says : — ^*His training told him that the first func* 
tion of advertising is to advertise. His merit as a draughtsman lies, in part, 
in vivacious rather than correct line : gaiety, as we have seen, is the chief 
quality of his color: his composition is remarkable on account of the 
piquancy and appropriateness of his detail/' 

Throughout his long career, Cheret has remained faithful to his 
art of poster-making — ^if we except certain pastels and several mural paint- 
ings. None understood better than he the tools he had to work with, for 
his first labors were as a lithographer's apprentice, until he had mastered 
the technical side of his art, when he established his own studio and left 
all but the finer touches on the stones to his assistants. 

In his earliest posters Cheret employed a familiar de^ce among 
lithographers of shading off the color of the background stone, so that he 
might print at once the dark blue of the sky at the top, and the dark brown 
of a foreground at the bottom. Later, however, he chose to work rather 
in sharp contrasts, with violently opposed masses of intense color, and de- 
tached legends in yellow or white over his background, while his third 
period shows posters with a chromatic palette of red, yellow, and blue, with 
very few other colors, and with an extraordinarily clean rendering of 
lithographic values. 



THEATRE DE L'OPERA CARNAVAL 

Jules Ch^ret (1896) 

•9 



20 JULES CHER ET Chap.II 

It was in 1866 that he began the extraordinary series of affiches 
which has placed his name at the very head of all those that have essayed 
the poster, and there are over a thousand examples which have been cata- 
loguedy with probably many others that have escaped the collector. 

Of these the most important are the great series which he made 
for the Folies Bergeres, the Moulin Rouge and the Alcazar d'Ete, together 
with the engaging children of the ^'Buttes Chaumont*' series. With the 
'^Palais de Glace'' series, perhaps his best known are the "Coulisses de 
f Opera!' the ^'Magasins du Louvre," and the little lady in yellow, of the 
^Tantomimes Lumineuses," while his dazzling advertisements of cigar- 
ettes, drinks, toilet accessories and nearly every item of the paraphernalia 
of modem civilization are legion. In addition to the music-hall posters are 
scores of characteristic examples of Cheret's joyous sketches for theatres, 
circuses, charity fetes, newspapers^ and publishers. 

His work has been variously recognized in paragraphs in art papers 
over all the world, and by the contemporary press of Paris, where numerous 
editorials appeared from time to time, in which with Gallic generosity and 
appreciation, were expressed sentiments of sincere gratitude to this '*com- 
mercial artist" for his lavish gladdening of the streets with merrily dancing 
figures and riots of exotic coloring. 

In point of exhibition, a large collection entirely of posters by 
Cheret, was shown in the galleries of the Theatre d' Application in Paris in 
1890, and in book-form were carefully catalogued in that rare volume: 
^^Les Affiches lUustrees" by Ernest Maindron (1886), as well as in an 
equally rare work, "Graveurs Fran^ais du XlXieme Sicde" by Henri 
Beraldi. Unfortunately both these books have long since been out of print, 
and are unobtainable. 

The limitations of a discussion devoted entirely to posters must, of 
necessity, preclude the presentation of any examples, charming as they are 



PALAIS DE GLACE 
Jules Ch£ret (1894) 



22 JULES CHERET Chap. II 



in themselves, of Cheret's fascinating sketches in pastel and sanguine. Of 
these there are thousands — passing fancies, all inspired by the spirit of 
Watteau and those gallant and romantic artist-dreamers of by-gone days, 
though in the case of M. Cheret, the call of the day has always taken, when 
necessary, the precedence over echoes of the past or fantasies of an im^ 
possible and Elysian future. 

To capitulate the poster values in such illustrations of M. Cheret's 
work as one is able to present, all desirable elements are apparent to a 
marked degree, and apparent in no one less than in any other of the several 
examples. 

In none of these posters can be found the indication of three 
distances or of confusing backgrounds. The action. In all its irrepressible 
vitality is always at the front of the stage. It is impossible not to see it, or 
having seen, to ignore it. 

No ill-studied values of light and shade, or uselessly elaborated 
details mar the pure simplicity of Cheret's technique, for his posters were 
translated in a manner unusually broad and flat in mass and dean in color 
for lithographs, which usually lose force by reason of muddy values and 
heavy treatment In general. 

There Is no perspective, other than that necessarily Involved in fore- 
shortening certain members of the body. The figures are flat in delineation 
as well as in actual mass, yet seem inspired with life In every line. 

In point of lettering, every poster Is plainly legible even at a con* 
siderable distance, for the lettering Is admirably In scale with the figures, 
and Is either kept clear of the background, or superposed In absolute con- 
trast No masses of small letters have taken the eye from the main legend 
or Its coordinate complement — the figure. From a passing motor-car the 
poster has been seen, read and thoroughly understood In its entirety. And 



PALAIS DE GLACE 

Jules Ch£ret (1896) 

'3 



24 JULES CHERET Chap. II 

let it be carefully observed as a general statement that a large part of the 
excellence of Cheret's posters lies in the fact that he has given equal im- 
portance to his legends and his figures; he has made them co-essential — the 
one of no greater or less legibility than the other in any respect. 

That basic element of general scale in the fundamental conception 
of the design — ^that suggestion of an idea or action larger than the confines 
of the sheet — ^will be found to appear in a singularly logical manner in the 
illustrations of this chapter. In the case of posters where the action or 
suggested setting of the subject carries qualities implying extent or large- 
ness or sufficient interest in themselves, as the Loic Fuller ^'Fire-Dance,'* 
the ^'Palais de Glace'' and the ''Coulisses de VOperal' it will be found that 
the entire figure is within the confines of the sheet. The suggestion of an 
**idea larger than the actual sheet" is carried entirely by the implied large* 
ness of the stage, the skating rink or the opera house. 

On the other hand, where the independent action which is instinct- 
ively implied in the above examples is lacking, as the "JoV poster, the 
"Diaphane'^ face-powder, and the "Saxoleine" oil, the suggested idea of 
scale is effected by showing only a portion of the figure. The mental addi- 
tion of the portion not shown produces the unconscious impression that 
something has been presented which is larger than the actual confines of 
such a presentation. Cigarettes and face-powder — and certainly coal oil — 
carry no idea of the necessary scale of their setting, while of necessity a 
ballet demands an enormous stage, and a figure on skates demands a large 
rink — and this setting has been suggested without any insult to public intelli- 
gence by its literal delineation. It is a plain instance of ^imaginative 



omission." 



Even m the case of "Yvette Guilbert," it might be felt that inasmuch 
as she merely sang, that song might be taking place in a drawing room or 
on a large stage. The mere idea of singing in itself carries no such posi- 



LA DANSE DU FEU FOLIES BERGERE 
Jules Ch^ret 

25 



26 JULES CHER ET Chap.II 

tively implied scale in setting as the presentation of a ballet or the enjoy- 
ment of skating. Consequently, that lack of scale in logical setting has been 
expressed by showing only a portion of the singer, and the imagination is 
given play in spplying the remainder. It might be submitted as an axiom 
that if a poster (after clearly presenting its advertisement and appro- 
priately illustrating the same) leaves nothing to the imagination, it is not a 
good poster. This covers those posters which irritate us because of their 
over-subtle and indecipherable "meaning" as well as those which insult our 
intelligences by their over-literal and realistic presentation of something 
that we all know. 

And all the host of psychological appeals to instinctive impression 
and unconscious co-existent thought that are involved in the consideration 
of sense-impression find wonderful expression in all of Cheret's posters. 
Perhaps the poise and enticing grace of the red-coated skater in the ^'Palais 
de Glace'* would do as well for a dance-hall, but why not suggest that ska- 
ting at this particular rink offers all the allurements of dancing at the Red 
Mill? Further, the materialist might caustically enquire — ^^'what expres- 
sion or gesture rather than any other expression or gesture can possibly 
suggest face-powder or coal-oil?" One need only consider the posters of 
"Diaphane'' and ^'Saxoleine" however, to perceive that in the one an ex- 
tremely chic and prepossessing coquette (who is plainly particular as to her 
toilet accessories) is taking evident delight in the use of this powder, and 
that in the other a very charming lady is manifesting equal delight in the 
result of her employment of this oil in herlamp. Ergo, it is to be supposed 
that these two products, though of widely varied nature in their functions, 
are nevertheless unquestionably the best of their kind, and to be secured by 
the public in preference to all substitutes. So much for the '^advertising 
value** of Cheret*s posters. 

It has been put forward by some that the continuous effervescence 



JOB PAPIER A CIGARETTES 
Jules CnfiRET (1889) 



28 JULES CHERET Chap.U 

of Cheret's posters is tiresome and inanei and that brilliant dramatic action 
is out of place in, for example, a poster for coal-oil. This critidsm, how- 
ever, is of rather a captious nature, and not entirely without a suggestion 
of ^'sour grapes/* For no hand but that of Cheret has ever produced such 
varied or such appropriate posters in the whole history of the art. It 
should be required perhaps, of those who take exception to Cheret's treat- 
ment, that they first design or exhibit a poster as good, then one better, 
before proceeding with adverse criticisms. 

Of the color, more has been said elsewhere, and of the thorough 
excellence of these posters from every standpoint set forth in the first chap- 
ter, one feels that their value as general examples, as well as their introduc- 
tion as particular illustrations, cannot require further comment or analysis. 



DIAPHANE RICE POWDER 
Jules Ch^ret (1890) 

20 



EXTRA- BLANC- DEODORISE'ININFLAMMABLE 

en Bidons plombes de 5 litres 



SAXOLEINE PETROLEUM 
Jules CHiiiET (1894) 

3' 



Chap.III FRENCH POSTERS 33 



CHAPTER III. 
Posters Continental and English. 

In considering ^^foreign posterst** it is to be conceded at once that 
masmuch as Continental Europe is the birthplace and home of posters in 
general, it is only one's necessity in writing from a transatlantic viewpoint 
that sanctions the use of the word ^'foreign*' at all. 

For it is in France that poster making was first recognized as an art, 
and it is France that has characterized it as an art of which the keynote is 
audacity, chic, abandon and sheer devemess. And of its feeling, Jules 
Cheret, who first electrified Paris some forty-five years ago, was the leading 
exponent. 

It is in France that the masters worked Cheret kept Paris in a con- 
tinual state of amazement, delight and fascination with his flaming, madcap 
posters, swirling visions of line and color, comet-like, explosive — impossible 
to ignore or condemn. Steinlen endeared himself by many quaint and 
clever sheets, and Mucha became famous over night by his exquisite but 
powerful posters for Sarah Bernhardt. And crowding in their wake came 
Eugene Grasset, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, George Meunier, 
Lucien Metivet, Cossard, Willette, Guillaume, and a score of others. 

At one time even Gustave Dore, Puvis de Chavannes, Viollet-le-Duc, 
Boutet de Monvel and Vierge entered the lists, and gave the poster an 
added dignity and standing. It is not their work, however, that has made 
it what it is, or that ^11 make it what it is capable of becoming. Their 
contributions were too scattered, too tentative, and even a[>ologetic. The 
significance of these posters is marred by lack of abandon, and one is 



34 FRENCH POSTERS Chap.III 



inclined to feel that their authors considered themselves a little above the 
work. One does not fancy Lord Tennyson writing a limerick. 

The posters which the little group of masters has given us repay, 
however, a dose critical analysis, and bear very strongly on the acquisition 
of an adequate working iuiowledge of principles of conception, design and 
general handling. 

Preeminently, Cheret leads. The world follows. The designers 
of England and America, no more than his own countrymen, must perforce 
study his inimitable style, and make the most they can of it. And this has 
been done in some instances, and in some a new style, or school of posters 
has been attempted. This is especially true of England, where the insular 
peculiarities of the race did not even dare to consider Cheret seriously, or 
his work as that of an inhabitant of this earth. 

One's first consideration, however, deals with the work of those 
French designers who may be said to have created the poster, and having 
created, to have developed it to a stage where the designers of other nations 
took it up in their own several manners. 

Of Cheret, more has been said elsewhere. Technically, the work of 
Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen resembles that of Cheret to some degree. 
In the work of Steinlen, however, there is a pronounced difference in funda- 
mental feeling and in actual draughtsmanship. An almost unerring excel- 
lence and accuracy of proportion are unconsciously felt in even his most 
fragmentary sketch. Where Cheret's figures float in air, Steinlen's figures 
are all set very solidly on the ground. His delineation Is more conscientious, 
and if it is less captivating, it nevertheless has a pleasing quality of Its 
own — a quality to which greater similarity may be observed In the early 
work of Edward Penfield in America than In the work of any of Stein- 
len*s contemporary countrymen. There Is none of the abandon of Cheret 
— Stelnlen*s work is more reserved, and his expression more literal and 



YVETTE 

GUILBERT 

Th£ophile 

Alexandre 

Steinlem 

(1894) 

3S 



EXPOSITION A LA BODINIERE 

THfeOPHILE-ALEXANDRE STEINLEN (1894) 

37 



BB 



38 STEINLEN, MUCHA Chap.III 



IBI 



matter«of*fa€l. No better study in contrast could be offered tham the pres- 
entation of the different poster-caricatures of Mile. Yvette Guilbert, where 
the points of view both of Cheret and of Steinlen are illustrated in their con- 
temporary renderings of the same subject. Steinlen's humor is quiet and 
depends largely for its expression upon the grotesque in facial caricature, 
while Cheret^s spirit prefers rather to present in an exaggerated form the 
actual vivacity of his subject. 

Steinlen works in masses of contrasting color; his pictures are 
graphic, and his lettering is simple in detail and strong in relative scale. 
In *^Lait pur de la Vingeanne^' little, if anything, could be desired to im- 
prove its quality as a good poster, or to make it more thoroughly typical 
of the style which may be considered as essentially that of Steinlen. The 
'^Exposition Bodinier^' poster shows the designer at his favorite subjects- 
cats, which he never wearied of sketching in all their infinite variety of 
posture and mood. 

Alphonse Mucha may perhaps be said to be the most perfect and 
painstaking draughtsman who has ever devoted much serious attention to 
posters. While his wonderful poster for Sarah Bernhardt in her role of 
"Gijifioifio" (with the ^'Medeey Samaritaine/' "Lorenzaccio" and 
others of the series) will always be his masterpieces, collectors prize no 
less the exquisite little design for the ''Salon des Cent" and the wonderfully 
graceful poster for "Job" cigarette papers. 

In this country he produced a most successful poster for Mrs. Leslie 
Carter, and executed some masterful mural work in New York in a build- 
ing intended for the production of German Opera, now a popular music- 
hall. Nor should his work be forgotten in the pleasure which he has given 
in the exquisite decoration of innumerable magazine-covers, calendars, and 
the like. There is a certain charm and sweetness about his work, coupled 
with an unmistakable element of great strength and faultless draughtsman* 



MEDEE 

AlPHONSE MUCHA 
39 



40 GRASSET, TOULOUSE-LAUTREC Chap. Ill 

ship which gives it a singular character of its own. The conscientious 
elaboration of his ever-original ornament and detail is a source of constant 
admiration for those who follow his work with any degree of interest, and 
it is to be regretted that the greater part of it is a serious detriment to much 
strength that his posters would otherwise possess. It has the fatal defect of 
producing a monotone, and its value is lost even at comparatively dose 
range. It is only the beautiful grace of such figures as in the ^'Salon'^ and 
**Job" posters, or the combined grace and sublimity in the Bernhardt series 
that make up in any degree for their lack of strength. It is a case in which 
unusual excellence of draughtsmanship and underlying largeness of con- 
ception make up in a large measure for over-finesse of detail. 

Eugene Grasset, whose work can be likened only to that of Mucha, 
dignified the poster almost to the grandeur of a stained-glass window, with 
masses of gorgeous color, heavy outlines like leads, refined conception in 
design, with an intricate imagination and skill over all. While his posters 
fail to accost and astonish like those of Cheret, and lack many qualities of 
strength and simplicity, they are undeniably impressive and certainly sincere. 
In conception he is an idealist. In delineation, like Mucha, he is more 
conscientious than Cheret, and depends more on heavy outlines for his 
figures. His posters are undoubtedly confused, and his lettering often 
hard to read, either through lack of contrast or ill-chosen design. 
He has an unfortunate tendency also to introduce too much detail, 
but succeeds in spite of these detrimental particulars, by virtue of the 
strength of his compositions and his clear conception of a dominating idea, 
as in the ** Jeanne d'Arc^' poster for Sarah Bernhardt. 

The work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, apart from his posters of 
children, was characterized by a bizarre element to a marked degree — so 
marked in fact as to constitute its principal note. Most of his later work 
consisted of sketches in poster form which might be called, in a sense, 



GISMONDA 

Alphonse Mucha (1894) 

4' 



LA SAMARITAINE 

Alphonse Much* 

43 



SALONS DES CENT 
Alphonse Mucha (1896) 



JOB 

Alphonse Mucha 

47 



\. \ 



48 LAUTREC, BONNARD, MEUNIER Chap. Ill 



"human documents." Among these were some odd caricatures of the lead- 
ing favorites of contemporary fame in the cabarets and roof-gardens of 
Paris — "Aristide Bruant/' Jane Avril and ''Yvette Guilberf' 6eing his fav- 
orite subjects. The ''Divan Japonais'^ is thoroughly typical, depicting in 
grotesque parody two most eccentric looking members of an audience listen- 
ing to Yvette Guilbert, who may be recognized on the stage by her famous 
"black gloves." Lautrec's black and white portrait-sketch of Mile. Guil- 
bert might be compared with the Ch6ret and Steinlen posters. 

Among less prominent, though perhaps no less talented poster 
designers of Lautrec's kind was H. G. Ibels, whose point of view in general 
and technique in particular was very similar. One of his favorite subjects 
was the popular roof-garden comedienne, Irene Henry, whom he helped 
to make well-known; while Anquetin, a designer in much the same class, 
was portraying the vulgar but clever Marguerite Dufay. This completes 
what might be taken as a series, or group of the music-hall favorites of the 
moment, of whom Yvette Guilbert was translated into posters by Cheret, 
Lautrec and Steinlen as well. One should include Cayals in this group, for 
his work is of the same character, best known to collectors no doubt in his 
poster for the '^Salon des Cent" in 1894. 

A very dever designer was Pierre Bonnard, to whom at least two 
very clever posters are to be credited— one for ''La Revue Blanch^* and 
another for ^Trance Champagne" — both conceived in a vein thoroughly 
characteristic both of their author and their audience. 

Distinct from the work of Toulouse-Lautrec and the little clique 
influenced by him is that of George Meunier, a Belgian, who would 
seem from the "JoV^ cigarette poster to have been strongly inspired by 
Cheret. One notices the same composition, the same color-scheme and 
much the same general feeling as in the posters of the master, without, how- 
ever, quite the unerring surety of line or abandoned poise of passing motion. 



DIVAN JAPONAIS 
Henri DE Toulouse-Lautrec (1892) 

49 




YVETTE GUILBERT (A Sketch) 
Henri de Toulouse-Lautkec 
SO 



JEANNE D'ARC 
EuofeNE Grasset 



S2 METIVET, COSSARD, PALEOLOGUE Chap. Ill 

His work was chic and possessed strong poster values, its merit as a whole 
being impaired in no way except by comparison to that of Ch^ret. 

One considers in the class of Meunier, the work of Luden Metivet, 
whose posters, however, were unfortunately of very uneven merit. He was 
at his best in a series of posters for Eugenie Buffet, and in her appearance 
at the '^C oncer $ de la Cigale/'* he suggests no one less than Steinlen in his 
technique. 

A. Cossard, whose poster for the ** Place CUchy^^ is most interesting 
and strong in the simplicity of its composition and admirable in its bold 
technique and well-studied lettering, contributed a number of worthy ex- 
amples, and the work of MM. Sinet and Grun deserves ^^honorable men- 
tion.'* 

Of Frendi designers v^o have chosen to expatriate themselves, the 
best known are Guillaume, Sinet and Grun, together widi Prince Jean 
Paleologue (better known over his signature of ^Tal*') who, though a 
Roumanian by birth pursued all his studies in Paris. It was in 1893 that 
Paleologue went to Paris, and associated himself with a lithographer who 
soon became a rival of the establishments of Chabc and the ''Atelier Jules 
Ch^ret.'* 'TaPs** idea was to make drawings of a nature more conunercial 
than those of Cheret, yet no less artistic. He was also the only designer at 
that time, except Cheret, who understood the technique of lithography, and 
was able to put his own touches on the stones. He came to the United 
States in 1900, and with the exception of short visits abroad, has worked 
here since that date, making many posters in this country, of which a sketch 
for ^'Miss Valeska Suratt/^ is perhaps the most successful. Apart from 
advertising work he showed an interesting departure in a series of ten 
charming poster-panels for the nursery, showing the adventures of a 
juvenile Pierrot, Columbine, and Harlequin. 

♦ See Chapter VIII, page 361. 



LA REVUE BLANCHE 

PlEKRE BONNASD (1894) 
53 



JOB PAPIER 

A CIGARETTES 

George Meunier 

SS 



A LA PLACE CLICHY 

A. COSSARD (1903) 

57 



VALESKA SURATT 

Jean Pai.6olocue (1910) 

59 



BSBBBSBB^BSBSSBB^BBSS 

60 ENGLISH POSTERS Chap.III 

Willette^s posters seem full of "the stuff that dreams are made 
of** — ^vague fantasies like his famous "Enfant Prodigue*' poster. He 
seemed most fond of depicting Pierrot, in many moods and many roles, 
and in this he would seem to have found an understudy in C. Leandre. 

The English, although they made a noble effort to adopt the poster 
art, presented the idea in many extraordinary conceptions. "In England 
the London fogs somehow got entangled in the brush of the poster-maker, 
and the new art, in its translation from sunny France lost much of its joy- 
ous spirit,*' and Mr. Brander Matthews rather cynically observed that 
British posters depicted mostly "things to eat or soap.'* 

Possibly the painting of "Bubbles,** by Millais, bought by Messrs. 
Pears for use as an advertisement, suggested this rather sweeping and 
caustic observation, and it is fair to say that it can only be taken as a 
generality. 

In 1 87 1, appeared the first poster that decorated the walls of Lon- 
don. It was a curious creation, drawn by a Royal Academician, Frederick 
Walker, to advertise Wilkie Collins*s book, **The Woman in White J' This 
poster was in black and white, a statuesque figure of a woman standing with 
her hand on a half-opened door, looking back with a beautiful, terrified 
face from the star-studded night outside. It created no little sensation, and 
forerunner as it was, struck the keynote of the work to follow. This note, 
rather sombre and triste, has never been entirely shaken off, and has ap- 
peared with more or less strength in nearly all the posters of England. 

Strongest of all in this marked passion for melancholy and weird 
effects in black and white was Aubrey Beardsley, that mad genius of "Yellow 
Book" fame, mercilessly ridiculed and caricatured in "Punch," and blindly 
followed by many less clever than he and less capable of mastering either 
his Mephistophelian conceptions or nightmare execution. He tortured the 



Engroni >.»«)< THE WOMAN IN WHITE 

b. If. H. Ho^fir FUEDEErCK WALKER (1871) 

6t 



62 BEARDSLEY, CRANE, BELL Chap. Ill 



human figure in grotesque parodies, weird contortions — anything to gain a 
lurid and bizarre effect. He held that it was as permissible to convention- 
alize the human figure as to conventionalize plant forms for decorative pur- 
poses, and said : ''If Nature doesn't conform to my drawings, so much the 
worse for Nature/* 

His influence on his generation was perhaps baneful, rather than 
advantageous, and pulled the English conception down to the depths of 
moumfulness and morbidity. 

The light fantastic note of the French Poster was thus translated 
Into an uncanny, grotesque thing, more than half tragic, and as different 
from the works of Cheret and Steinlen as night from day. 

It was not until that master decorator, Walter Crane, appeared that 
anything like a sense of color was awakened In the English conception of a 
poster, and his gracefully drawn figures, softly colored in greens and yel- 
lows gladdened the sombre walls of London some little while. The only 
unfortunate phase of his work was the blind passion for vivid yellows 
which It engendered In contemporary art, and the exhibitions at Grosvenor 
Gallery became a mere scale of different values of saffron and lemon. 
Crane's work, however, was never mournful, and was always characterized 
by an indescribable grace of line and charm of feeling. His influence on 
his contemporaries was distinctly happy. 

Of his immediate followers, perhaps the most noteworthy was R. 
Anning Bell, in whose work a distinct trace of the master Is evident. One 
finds the same grace of line and charm of feeling with an additional element 
of a quality almost approaching grandeur. Bell's work Is always dignified, 
often stately, and sometimes sublime In motive. The ^^Liverpool Art* 
SchooP' poster suggests a stained glass window as much as anything else, 
and strikes, again, a note as utterly different from the work of Cheret, as 
it were possible to conceive. 






Coonm >t BODLEY HEAD 

'"'" ^" <:«.*», AuBMv Beawmiev (1894) 

63 



THE YELLOW BOOK 
Aubrey Beardsley 

CourUjy of 
John Lant Company 

6s 



LIVERPOOL 

ART SCHOOL 

R. Anning Bell 

67 



HAU & COMPANY CHAMPAGNE 

Walter Ckame ( 1900) 

69 



70 THE TRANSITION Chap. Ill 



From the haughtily dignified figures of Aiming Bell, English posters 
plunged once more into the depths of a greater mournfulness than ever» 
in the work of Pryde and Nicholsoni who styled themselves the '^Beggar- 
staff Brothers." Their posters embody many of the best points, being 
strong, simple, original, strildng, and often bizarre ; but utterly lacking in a 
relieving note of levity. They are grim and dispiriting, gloomy, sombre 
and cheerless. They have not the weird and grotesque properties of 
Beardsley's work, which offset in a measure certain other tendencies, and 
''The Beggarstaff's" posters have even caused a punning criticism to the 
effect that "they have the best claim in the world to be affixed to a 'dead 
wall.' " Of the same school is J. W. Simpson (whose "Book of Book- 
Plates'* is thoroughly typical,) together with Gordon Craig, the work of 
both showing a strong "Beggarstaff" influence. 

A much nearer approach to the Continental poster idea was reached 
in the work of Dudley Hardy, whose gay dancing silhouettes, white on a 
scarlet ground, did much to enliven the streets and, in the instance of his 
"Gaiety Girf scries, struck a note more nearly approaching the French 
than any previous work in England. 

In marking a departure from the grim and melancholy, Hardy's 
work was undoubtedly the forerunner of such amusing recent posters 
as J. Hassall's "Follies/* which set everyone in gales of laughter, and 
was hailed by the "Tatlcr" as the funniest poster ever seen in London. 
Of this cheerful school of drollery Is also Cecil Aldin, whose nursery 
posters, as well as those of Hassall, have charmed and delisted two 
continents. Aldin executed an uncommonly clever poster advertising 
"Colman*s Blue,'* while Hassall made two others for the same company, 
for "Starch" and "Mustard/* Comment should also be made upon the 
work of Tom Browne, Charles Pears and Will Owen, whose style, as a 
clique, IS admirably displayed in Owcn*s naive little poster for "Lu^' soap. 



DON QUIXOTE 

"Beggakstaff Bbothess" (1895) 

7' 



J2 GREIFFENHAGE N, BRANGWYN Chap. Ill 

Thus the high water-mark of poster work was reached in England 
by Dudley Hardy, coupled in success with Maurice Greiffenhagen who, like 
Cheret, almost invariably chose a girl as his motive, and drew refined and 
charming women with a dashing technique of line, mass, and colon His 
style is admirably suggested in all but color in the ^^Pall MaW poster which 
for strength of composition and simplicity of motive equals anything pro- 
duced in France. 

Among successful essayists of the poster in England were many of 
the staff oJL "Punch" ; Bernard Partridge and Phil May being respectively 
exponents of the sublime and the ridiculous In motive, while Raven-Hill 
gladdened the "hoardings" with many lively and piquant sheets for "Pick- 
me-Up." 

Prominent among English painters who have entered the poster 
field from time to time is Frank Brangwyn, whose magnificent poster 
for the Orient-Pacific Steamship Line is familiar to all collectors, and which 
one would illustrate in this chapter were it not that its pictorial qualities 
outweigh its poster values. If it were not so splendid a picture one would 
regret its deficiencies in certain respects as a poster, though Its wonderful 
color and great strength of composition go far to off-set these, and to raise 
it certainly to a presentation of excellent advertising power. 

Of recent years there has been founded in England an institution of 
which a counterpart might well be considered In this country. This Is the 
Poster Academy — ^the first part of Its name designating Its field, and the 
second dlgnlfjring that field with a name generally associated with the better- 
known Fine Arts. When the designing of posters becomes generally recog- 
nized as a Fine Art, we may confidently look for an array of pleasing and 
Interesting sheets on our boards, and the disappearance of much of the 
lithographic trash of to-day. The object of this English club Is "to con- 
vince the advertiser that the artistic poster Is more effective than the Inar- 



BECKET 

"Beggarstaff Brothers" 

73 



THE BOOK OF BOOKPLATES 

J. W. Simpson ( 1900) 

75 



Co»i.ty •/ THE MASQUE OF LOVE 

Jukii Latu Comfant GORDON CRAIG (1901) 

77 



nrciRL 

V (1894) 



THE FOLUES LUX SOAP 

J. Hassaix (1905) Will Owen 

Si 



PALL MALL BUDGET 

Maurice Gkbifpenuagen 

>3 



Couriety of and Copyrighted by SUDAN 

iSEL 



S smZS"^"^' '"°'°°" "■ T- RonssEL 



86 ENGLISH POSTERS Chap.III 

tistic one*'— certainly an excellent movement in the right direction. In 
England there is a ^'National Society for Checking the Abuses of Public 
Advertising,'' and it has even been suggested that this and the Poster Acad- 
emy should work in unison. The Academy, however, has held several ex- 
hibitions independently, where much interesting work was exhibited by such 
designers as Aldin, Hassall, Hardy, Browne, and Pryde (of the ^^Beggar- 
staff Brothers"). Some definite association of this kind, comprised of 
men working in commercial art in this country, and holding frequent ex- 
hibitions, could not fail to bring about not only better individual work but 
a more intelligent general public recognition. 

Among English posters, those for steamship companies, and for 
travel in general have been among the best. In many cases these have 
been done by other than English artists, as in the ''Sudan'' poster by R. T. 
Roussel — though Frank Brangwyn's ^^Orient-Pacific" steamship poster will 
always remain one of the finest in the world. 

The most noteworthy recent poster work in England is unquestion- 
ably to be found in the numerous posters advertising out-of-town trips by 
trains or onmibus. These are not only highly artistic in execution, but sug- 
gest, from the advertising point of view, an excellent means of stimulating 
traffic. ''St. Alban's Route'' is charming in composition and color scheme, 
and cleverly rendered, and the market figures in "WatforJC' are painted 
in an unusually vigorous and colorful poster technique. "Twickenham" 
znd "fF alt ham Abbey" show a breadth in the handling of pictorial land- 
scapes which affords good material for the study of this particular poster 
problem. 

One man is largely responsible as the influence that created these 
travel posters which form such a distinguished addition to English poster 
art — Mr. Frank Pick, the advertising manager of the London Under- 
ground Railways. 



Cimrtety of 

t-o^^on Undtrground Railwa-ys Company 



ST. ALBANS ROUTE 

F. Gregory Brown 

«7 



Conrtttyof^ WATFORD 

London Underground RaSwiyt Company P A r* 

Sg 



DAILY HERALD POSTER 

E. McKnight Kauffer (1918) 

91 



Q2 ENGLISH POSTERS Chap. Ill 

In connection with London Underground Railways Posters E. Mc- 
Knight Kauffer should be mentioned. Although an American, all his 
poster work has been done in England. In addition to his motor omnibus 
posters, which are excellent, he has recently been making some strikingly 
'^modernistic*' posters for various purposes, very unusual in their treat- 
ment, and interesting. 

One of the larger London stores, Derry & Toms, has produced a 
number of striking posters, foiir of which are illustrated. They are all 
simple in idea, broad in treatment and vigorous and vivid in color. E. & 
A. Mele & Ci., in Naples, and La Place Clichy in Paris are Continental 
counterparts of Derry & Toms in the matter of issuing large series of 
posters, and while several of our larger stores in this country use posters 
occasionally, notably Wanamaker's, GimbePs and Macy's, they have not 
produced many noteworthy examples. 

Reverting to English travel posters, nearly all of which are land- 
scapes, some observations on landscape posters ought well be made. Lack- 
ing action, and the ''human equation'* of the figure, the whole burden of 
attracting and sustaining interest falls upon composition, color and tech- 
nique. The landscape poster must be as bold as possible in its composi- 
tion, avoiding the complexities which would be involved in a literal render- 
ing of the subject — must eliminate much of the actual picture and concen- 
trate on the impression. The color scheme should be vivid and definite 
and at the same time harmonious, and the technique, preferably, should 
develop some interesting and unusual characteristics. The manner in 
which a landscape poster is done is very important, because of the neces- 
sarily complicated perspective and the different distances, or picture planes, 
which every landscape naturally presents. To secure a large and simple 
effect in a composition involving foreground, middle distance and far dis- 
tance is no small task for the poster artist to set himself. 



c^VJfi^ DERRY AND TOMS POSTERS 

Derry & Toma F. A. WaRREN, HELEN ByRNE 

Bryce and F. Gregory Brown 
93 



()4 GERMAN POSTERS Chap.III 

Long after the wave of poster-making in France had reached its 
height, and the art had settled down as an established profession, Germany 
took it up with a characteristic grimness of determination that produced 
so many interesting and excellent posters that an entire book might be 
written about the German plakat. No names like those of Cheret or 
Mucha were prominent at first — it was more an ^^all-comers event," and 
every artist, illustrator, and student took a tilt at it "Simplidssimus'* 
and ^'Jugend" blossomed forth regularly with covers which were designed 
along the lines of posters, some of them very excellent; and railroads and 
expositions decorated the streets with some striking and attractive bits of 
color. There would seem at the first to have been no leader in the move- 
ment — ^no school, and perhaps too great a striiang after originality. That 
orignality may be too dearly bought was dear in the work of Beardsley 
in England, and the realization of some limit to the exploitation of the 
grotesque would have been the needed bit of leaven in German posters. 
Gradually, however, certain designers came to the front, until to-day Lud- 
wig Hohlwein has won an international reputation. The posters for rid- 
ing clothes are admirable examples of his work, and more particularly the 
dever advertisement for a store for children's apparel. 

Numerous characteristically German posters over the group-signa- 
ture *T. K. S.,'* show, however, a more noticeable and far keener tendency 
toward the grotesque. The ^'advertising value** of the woi^ of this 
'T. K. S." is of a different sort, but of equal strength compared to the 
values in Hohlwein's posters. The one is bizarre, weird, astonishing — 
the other a presentation of the actual article in our very midst, and in its 
most attractive guise. The "story" in the "P. K. S." *'Bosch Magneto'' 
poster is excellent in its simplicity and legibility, implying as it does, that 
the motor cars of all nationalities needs must be wired up to this particular 
magneto, while the gigantic and diabolical chauffeur, Mephisto or Me- 



GNETO 

' F. K. 8." 
9S 



gd BELGIAN AND SCANDINAVIAN Chap. Ill 

chanic, or both — in his vermilion cloak, forms the note that attracts the 
attention at the first glance. The *^story'' in Hohlwein*s posters is even 
simpler, and is, indeed, the literal complement of the legend, with the 
interest more dependent upon skillful and clever draughtsmanship. 

In Belgium several clever designers have appeared, such as Meu- 
nier, and, later, Privat-Livemont, though most prominent of the Belgians 
will always be H. Cassiers^ to whom may be credited a great quantity of 
very interesting work. Perhaps the most successful of the posters of 
Cassiers is the ** American Line,** in which the ^^story" is unusually legible. 
The figures seem almost to speak, and the attention is directed without the 
slightest deflection to the ocean greyhound, while from a technical \aew- 
point it will be found to possess extraordinarily strong poster-values in 
every particular. The *'Red Star Line** poster is of equal charm though 
less strength, and these two sheets would place Cassiers in an enviable 
position as a poster designer, even without the legions of other excellent 
work to his name, such as the '^Ostend-Dover*' steamship advertisement, 
which many consider his best. 

The Scandanavian countries, especially Sweden, are producing some 
interesting and peculiarly individual work. It is unfortunate that it is not 
more extensively seen in this country. The poster for the "Scandinavian 
Art Exhibition,** by Gunnar Hallstrom is as extraordinary in color as it 
is in design. In deep purples, blues and greens, a Viking ship, with starry 
sail and carved dragon prow, appears over the crest of a wave. On the 
score of what advertising men call '^comprehension value,*' or the in- 
stantaneously understandable value of a poster drawing, this example 
would certainly not stand high. In color and in decorative value, however, 
it is a distinguished piece of work and an essentially artistic poster. 



HERMANN SCHERRER, Tailor 

LUDWIG HOHLWEIN 
97 



HERMANN SCHERRER, Tailor 

LUOWIG HOHLWEIN 

99 



BOLL'S KINDERGARDEROBE 

LUDWIG HOHLWEIN 



"SNOW FANTASY" 

Georg Tippel 

103 



AMERICAN LINE 

H. Cassiers 

'05 



Cimrui, at KED STAR LINE 

r». R,i SUir LHu H. CASSIEKS 



SCANDINAs/IAN 
AFCFEIXHiBiTiON 



NEWyOBK- BUFTALO TOLEDO 

CHICAGO BOSTON 

1911-1913 



SCANDINAVIAN ART EXHIBITION 

GUNNAR HALLSTRdM (1912) 
109 



no ITALIAN POSTERS Chap.III 

In Italy, even among a host of brilliant poster artists, one mastr r 
stands out like Cheret in France — ^the great A. Hohenstein, whose woik 
may be broadly characterized by superb draughtsmanship and the finest 
modelling, the latter being effected by intensive lighting. One of Hohen- 
stein's finest posters was made for 'Tosca,'' and other excellent examples 
are those for an ^'Esposizione d' Igiene," **La Sera'' (newspaper) and 
two for ^'Monte Carlo." Alphonse Mucha is one of the few poster ar- 
tists whose draughtsmanship can be compared with that of Hohenstein. 

The most essentially artistic posters of Italy, and perhaps of the 
whole world of posters are those of Giuseppi Palanti, whose ^'Giovanni 
Frangipani," and posters for Verdi, Mascagni and Wagner operas are 
known and prized by all collectors. 

Three other poster designers who would be included in the ''first 
five" of Italy are N. Dudovitch, G. M. Mataloni and L. Metlicovitz. 
Important Metlicovitz posters are "Conchita," "La Sera" and "Turin 
Exposition of 19 ii," while his ''Milan International Exposition*^ (1906), 
featuring the opening of the great Simplon Tunnel, is perhaps his master- 
piece. It is, in fact, one of the most brilliant and imaginative posters pro- 
duced by any European artist. Mercury, God of Travel, and an allegor- 
ical figure, presumably the "Spirit of Progress" are seated on the pilot of 
an engine, their badcs illumined by the headlight, and their gaze fixed 
ahead upon a vista of the plain of Italy, seen through the tunnel's mouth. 
An admirable illustration of "telling a story" by means of a poster — ^idea 
and execution strongly co-ordinated. 

The poster roll of Italy should include, in addition to the five men 
mentioned above, N. Mauzan, L. Caldanzano, M. Mazza, A. Terzi, 
D. Cambellotti, A. Magrini and G. Chini, all of whom have produced 
admirable posters, full of strength and imagination. 

Mention should also be made of the enterprise of the store of E. 



BIANCHI AUTOMOBILE 

Anonymous 

iti 



ESPOSIZIONE INTERNAZIONALE 

L. Metlicovttz (1906) 

"3 



I. BUFFONI 

L. Metlicovitz 

"S 



GRAND HOTEL REGOLEDO 

M. Mazza 

"7 



MONACO EXPOSITION ET CONCOURS 
DE CANOTS AUTOMOBILES 

A. HOHENSTEIH 
"9 



120 ITALIAN, SWISS AND SPANISH Chap. Ill 

& A Mele & Ci., of Naples, who commissioned the following artists, and 
several others, to make posters: M. Dudovitch, L. Cappiello, A. Villa, 
L. Metlicovitz, F. LaskoflF, A, Terzi and E. Sacchetd. 

Many posters have been produced in Italy by railroads, hotels and 
tourist agencies, the *^Grand Hotel, Regoledo** being typical of the better 
of these. The Italian poster in general can be characterized as showing 
a high order of imagination, good sense of color, good grasp of simple, 
dominant idea, and clever, unusual, but generally highly legible lettering. 
And the posters of Hohenstein, Palanti, Mataloni and Metlicovitz show 
a fine quality of true art in composition, color and technique. 

The observation that posters were produced for many years in 
Italy only by railroads and tourist agencies might also be made of Switzer- 
land, and though this country is the birthplace of the great Steinlen, of 
French fame, the art of the affiche was not recognized to any marked de- 
gree until the organization, in 1899, of the ''Societe Suisse dAffiches Ar- 
tistiques," in Geneva. Its object is not unlike that of the English 'Toster 
Academy," and it is composed of a clique of artists, exclusively Swiss, who 
have attained prominence or are working along these lines, and who share 
the profits of the work done. Most prominent of its designing members 
are M. G. VioUier and M. Bendcrly ("Ben"). 

For many years Spain presented nothing but the crude and garish 
lithographs, or mere lettered bulletins of the bull-fights — oddly enough, the 
Latin mind in this most curious of all Latin races, did not until very re- 
cently find expression in the elusive medium of the poster, which struck so 
keenly the keynote of all the national characteristics of the French. Per- 
haps Ramon Casas, with his many posters of Spanish dancers was the best, 
and there were also J. Xandaro, M, Utrillo and A. de Riquer — all capable 



BERNER OBERLAND WINTERSPORT 
C. Pellegrini 

12 1 



122 SPANISH, HUNGARIAN AND RUSSIAN Chap. Ill 

poster designers. Certainly the country which can produce poster design 
of such merit as the book cover for "£« Flandes sa Puesta el Sol/' by 
''Marco'* is distinctly to be reckoned with, and can be regarded as a source 
for much inspirational material. In pure poster technique the example 
illustrated is admirable, and in its suggestion of a great marching army, 
by means chiefly of the forest of lances, the artist has cleverly utilized 
the same device that Velasquez used in ''The Surrender of Breda.'' And 
with this army as a decorative background, the figure of the man in the 
red cloak stands out with a fine poster quality that is fairly epic. 

Recent art-movements in Holland have taken up the poster 
offidally, and certainly the racial characteristics are by no means attuned 
to the frivolous audacity of street placards. The various societies of 
municipal art, indeed, have abolished most of the city bill-boards, so that 
work in the vein of poster has perforce confined itself largely to book and 
circular covers. 

Hungary has essayed the poster by no means unsuccessfully, and 
can name, among others, I. de Vaszary, John Petridesz, Francis Helking 
and Arpad Basch. National characteristics, however, have not been 
marked, except in the lettering. Basch shows strongly the influence of 
Mucha in the delicacy and grace of his figures and details. 

In Russia, the genius of an extraordinary people did not express 
itself in posters until within the last ten years, when the talent of Leon 
Bakst and a clique of fellow designers began to produce some clever work. 

Of recent years the work of Leon Bakst is an expression of the 
movement set afoot by Wronbel, who died in 19 lo. The painters directly 
influenced by Wronbel, who conceived a peculiarly original treatment of 



EDVG%IIDO MARQVINA 

EN FLANDE/yEHA 
PVEJTO EL fOL 



EN FLANDES SE HA PUESTO EL SOL 

Masco 

"3 



124 RUSSIA, CZECHO-SLOVAKIA, JAPAN Chap. Ill 

theatrical values, belonged to two schools, the school of Moscow and that 
of St. Petersburg. The most astonishing of these painters among whom 
were Alexandre Benois, Roerich and Victor Serow, is Leon Bakst. Born in 
St. Petersburg in 1868, he studied at the School of Beaux Arts in that city, 
after which he worked in Paris with a Finnish painter, Albert Edelfelt. 
His genius has been recognized In Paris by the title of Chevalier 
of the Legion of Honor which was conferred upon him, and he attracted 
much attention in 191 1 by the stage settings and costumes which he designed 
for the Russian Ballets. Of these the illustration is taken from the **Pro- 
gramme Officiel*^ and shows the remarkable quality of his draughtsmanship. 
In his use of color he suggests certain Oriental work which one has seen — 
especially Persian and East Indian painting. 

With the tension of the war, and its often rather frenzied posters, 
gradually receding into the past; many artists in the Southern European 
countries are beginning to produce. These countries, such as Czecho- 
slovakia, Roumania, and the others, with newly awakened nationalism, and 
a newly defined Identity, will be heard from In the matter of posters in a 
few years. It would be premature to attempt, at this time to predict the 
place these will attain, or to attempt to guess their characteristics. There 
is much talent, certainly, in Southern Europe, and much new Incentive 
toward new creative work. 

Russia touches upon the Orient — ancient, complex and intangible 
in art as in all things else. In Japan, there were theatrical posters in the 
13th century — in China at a period far earlier. In the present volume 
these facts are submitted only as matters of historical interest, and one 
illustration is presented, showing a theatrical poster which was designed, 
printed and displayed in Japan, and is simply a portrait of a contemporary 



PROGRAMME OFncIEL DES BALLETS RUSSES 

LioN Bakst (1911) 

"5 



120 JAPANESE POSTERS Chap.III 

Stage favorite, by Toyokuni. It goes without saying that the Japanese are 
born poster-makers. Their slightest sketch of a wild duck slanting across 
the sky, a heron in the reeds, or the distant apex of Fuji — all are free in 
color and delineation, and their position on the sheet or page on which they 
appear gives them a strong unbalanced composition. But these matters 
involve a basic exposition of Oriental art — a matter as subtle and intricate 
as the Orient itself, and a subject on which a superficial criticism can do no 
more than stimulate individual study and analysis of Japanese prints in 
particular and all Japanese art in general from the point of view of the 
poster student. 

This chapter has been designed to briefly cover the poster work 
of France, England, and the Continent in general, a field obviously too 
large for thorough presentation in one chapter, and suggesting to the 
writer an entire future volume. Brief, however, as this survey of Euro- 
pean posters has necessarily been, it will serve to form a background as it 
were, upon which to throw accurate and intelligent critical analyses of 
American posters. 



JAPANESE THEATRICAL POSTER 

ToydKUNi 

'27 



Chap.IV FIRST POSTERS 129 



CHAPTER IV. 
American Posters. 

Considering first the mental attitude of the American people in 
regard to this poster art, one will concede in a moment that the idea should 
have fallen on fertile soil. The birthright of the American is freedom from 
precedent, rules, and traditions — in art as in all things else ; his accredited 
characteristic, native wit — spontaneous and apt; and his tastes admirably 
attuned to out-door art and the necessary audacity of the poster. 

Strangely enough, however, poster work was taken up in America 
in a way more characteristically far-sighted than artistic. The American 
devoted his energies in the matter almost entirely to the mechanical side — 
to processes of reproduction rather than to the artistic consideration of 
what he was producing. He seized the idea of making posters with the 
avidity and nervous intensity invariably displayed upon his importation or 
invention of an3rthing new, but he did not seem to know what to do with 
it for many years. 

The first American posters were woodcuts, often very elaborate, 
and the art of printing large wooden color blocks was perfected to the 
exclusion of any thought as to the design involved. Of this art, the old- 
time circus-poster is a fair example, and while sometimes pleasing, it can- 
not be taken seriously; and verges upon the impossible when considered in 
any connection with tenets of abstract art. Not only were the most funda- 
mental prindples of poster design, as such, ignored, but the principles of 
design of any kind seem to have formed no part of these first essays in a 
new field. 



ISO AMERICAN POSTERS Chap.IF 

With the advent of lithography and the possibilities of reproduction 
from stone, a fresh interest in posters made Itself felt throughout the land, 
but, as before, interest in art was entirely sacrificed to interest in mechanical 
processes. 

Lithography was developed to a high degree of technical excellence, 
while the subjects reproduced were hopelessly conunonplace, banal, and 
even at times vulgar. 

Fences and walls flamed with elaborate sheets advertising contem- 
porary theatrical productions, but all were presented in a manner deaden- 
ingly literal and thoroughly hopeless in point of conception and design. 
So depressing, indeed, were these efforts, that one refuses to resuscitate 
even a single specimen for illustration. Since the present discussion deals 
rather with analysis of design than with a history of progress In mechanical 
reproduction, the posters of the "Stone Age'* may be said to be utterly un- 
successful, as such, no matter how much the presentation of the art may 
subsequently have benefitted from the patient and capable efforts of those 
early engravers. 

Some of the larger publishing houses (notably Harper's) were the 
first to exploit real posters in America, and with the genius of Edward 
Penfield and Will Bradley as the moving spirit, posters took on a new life 
and began to hold a new meaning for the public mind. People watched 
for these quaint and dashing conceits, for Mr. Penfield has always com- 
bined a certain Parisian chic with a London poise of aristocracy and refine- 
ment, and blended the two by some curious psychological sleight of hand 
Into an expression of the best that Is In America. His girls, though often 
homely, were plainly refined, and always Interesting. His young men were 
ascetic of feature and Informal of raiment, but always well-bred and well 
mannered. They drove in hansoms, or walked briskly across country with 
their dogs, or faced a raw fall wind on the golf links. They all had a cer- 



Conrtii, ./ CHICAGO SUNDAY TRIBUNE 



CHAP BOOK 

WiilH. BnADLcy (1895) 

'33 



lADLEY 

135 



136 PENFIELD, BRADLEY Chap.IV 

tain character of their own, these poster-people of Mr. Penfield's mind, 
and most important, awoke in the American public a taste for better things. 

In his "Poster Calendar, iSgf is to be seen perhaps an example 
of the very best of Mr. Penfield's earlier work. Excellent in composition, 
color, line and simplicity of action, it seems strongly imbued with the in- 
fluence of Steinlen— even to the introduction of the cat, a note of charm 
in this design which gives it a place of its own among American posters. 
It embodies, indeed, all the essentials of excellence in poster design, which 
may briefly be capitulated in order to prove beyond any doubt its claim to 
being one of the very best of all our posters, past or present^r-and, indeed, 
it were difficult to imagine any future sheet which could challenge its place. 

Its "action" and "story" are not only simple, but are placed in the 
foreground, with no disturbing elements. Even the cat is demurely subordi- 
nate. There are no masses of small, confusing and irrelevant letters — ^the 
story is again simple, and the stronger for that. Further, the letters are 
essentially a part of the poster, not only in relative scale but in actual incor- 
poration — a point as excellent as it is rare and difficult of attainment. One 
might wield the scissors in vain to separate the picture and the legend. Nor 
is the whole muddled with ill-studied attempts to produce unnecessary im- 
pressions of shade and shadow. The poster did not need any such simula- 
tions of reality, being In itself saliently sincere, while the entire thing is 
enveloped with that rare poster-requisite — the direct appeal to the senses, 
without the tax of study and decipherment. "The Poster Calendar^' could 
be hung beside Steinlen's "Lait pur de la VingeanneJ* 

And Will H. Bradley put forth many posters in black and white, 
for the "ChafhBook/^ and contemporary books and periodicals — ^posters 
which were called "artistic" or "clever" by those who liked them, and 
"good" by those who understood them. 

In many ways it was a period of artistic convulsion in this country. 



VICTOR BICYCLES 
Will H. Bkadley (1895) 

Capyrishltd by 
The Overman Wheel Company 

'37 



138 EARLY DESIGNERS Chap.IV 

those years from 1892 onward almost to 1900— certainly to 1898. **The 
Yellow Book** became a fad — ^people talked intelligently about ''William 
Morris/' and the ''Craftsman Idea.'* The baneful influence due to an 
almost general misunderstanding of the teachings of Ruskin had largely 
died out» "Eastlakian" architecture was tottering to its grave, together 
with that frantic impulse to misapply the "Japanesque" in every conceivable 
form of decoration. Everyone was thinking new thoughts, evolving new 
conceptions of art and waking up to the idea that precedent should be 
studied rather than followed, and that there are more fish in the sea than 
were ever taken out of it. 

So, close upon the heels of Mr. Peniield (of whom more later), 
came Will Bradley, Frank Hazenplug, Claude Fayette Bragdon, W. Car- 
queville, J. J. Gould, E. B. Bird, Ernest Haskell, George Wharton Ed- 
wards, H. Sayen and many other designers and illustrators who entered the 
lists of "posterists." 

Of these, as can be seen. Will Bradley was strongly inspired by 
the work of Aubrey Beardsley in England, and his black and white shows 
clever massing, and a pleasing grace of line governed by a much greater 
restraint in feeling than ever appeared in Beardsley's drawings. One must 
not underestimate the value of the impetus to originality and art in this 
kind of work which Mr. Bradley's numerous posters created at this very 
critical juncture. 

They showed many strong points which place them high in the ranks 
of American posters. The lettering was always adequate, in mass and rela- 
tive scale (a point of superiority over Beardsley), the conceptions were 
quaint and original, and any abandon lacking in their composition was more 
than made up for by their strong decorative qualities, the cleverness of the 
whole carrying even the possible over-finesse of detail — their only fault as 
posters. The ^^Victor Bicycle'* poster is at once characteristic and excellent, 



KtLKussellfsfkJon 



c^fLo. rf POSTER CALENDAR 

R.H.Ruutii.En- Edward Penfield (1897) 

'39 



140 THE POSTER "FAD" Chap.IF 

and is among the best of American work, even taking into consideration 
the mass of varied and interesting designs by the men of today. 

Frank Hazenplug — ^whose work is admirably illustrated in the 
^'ChafhBook'* poster — ^was also of this school, and it would seem from his 
work that he had tried to combine such strength and cleverness as undoubt- 
edly characterize Beardsley, with even a greater grace and originality than 
WiU Bradley. 

Carqueville, however, followed the feeling and technique of Pen- 
field's posters to a marked degree, though with results less successful in point 
of strength or lasting qualities. Perhaps his cleverest production is the 
^'Lippincott^' poster. It illustrates to some extent the poster-value of "sug- 
gestive proportion''— of expressing an idea considerably larger than the 
sheet itself, in which it is not at all unlike many cover designs of "Jugend." 

Among those who had attained high prominence in poster work at 
that time was Louis Rhead, an Englishman, who came to America in 1882. 
His work at this period showed a great deal of delicacy, with strong decor- 
ative tendencies. From the standpoint of the poster collector one regrets 
his total desertion of this sort of work, exquisite as are his recent charming 
pen-drawings. 

The work of Ernest Haskell at this time (1896) diflfers entirely 
from his present style, as does that of J. J. Gould. Bird was more or less 
of the school of Beardsley, but Edwards adhered to classic and allegorical 
motives consistently. 

Much more varied and to be considered later, is the intensely inter- 
esting work of Maxfield Parrish, Robert J. Wildhack, the Leycndecker 
Brothers, Louis Fancher, George Brehm and Adolph Treidler. 

Since the day that the poster was made a popular fad by Penfield, 
the book-stores and magazine stands have displayed hundreds of posters 
good, bad and indifferent, of which a detailed and indiscriminate considera- 



CHAP BOOK 
Fkank Hazenplug 



mm 



142 THEATRICAL POSTERS Ghap.IV 

tion would be both tedious and unprofitable. Within the last few years, 
however, some of these posters have been distinctly interesting and in- 
structive, and of sufficient individuality to demand serious consideration. 

While gigantic strides were being taken by the publishing houses, 
the theatres, with certain exceptions as excellent and commendable as they 
are rare, were slow to follow the movement, and have continued to ignore 
even such forceful object lessons as the posters of M. Cheret. 

The theatrical poster in this country has only in a few isolated in- 
stances come up to the obvious dramatic possibilities of the subjects avail- 
able. Hamilton King, about 1905, made a strong effort to inject some 
spirit into American theatrical posters, but became discouraged at the lack 
of appreciation shown by the managers. Hy Mayer made several brilliant 
posters for Mr. Ziegfeld, who, in the earlier days of the "Follies," and 
some other productions, seemed to vision some dramatic poster possibilities, 
but the work of King and Mayer exerted no lasting influence, and theatri- 
cal posters continued to compete chiefly in stupidity. 

For a time there was a vogue for portrait posters, many of which 
were merely developed from enlarged photographs, with borders and 
lettering. Far more interesting and significant were such portrait heads 
as the "Maude Adams" by Blendon Campbell, a strong sanguine head of 
Mme. Nazimova by Ivanowski, and several heads by Ernest Haskell. 

The exceptional American theatrical poster was the great twenty- 
four sheet for "Sumurun " by Louis Fancher, in 19 13, a brilliant piece of 
color and delineation, not equalled before or since in the theatrical field 
in this country. 

The rise of the motion picture has opened a new field akin to that 
of the stage, and one in which the producers do not seem to be so unenter- 
prising as the theatrical managers. In proportion to the total number of 
large and expensive film productions, the number of good motion picture 



CENTURY 

MAGAZINE 

POSTER 

June, 1897 

Louis Rhead 

Cotirltty of and 

Cofyrifhlrd by tkf 

Ctnlury Company 

'43 



c«»«fl, 0/ LIPPINCOTTS MAGAZINE POSTER 

uttit'iei M.,„.in. J.i,u«ry, 1898 

J. J. Gould 
'4S 



146 PARRISH, J. C. LEYENDECKER Chap. IV 

posters is however deplorably small. In this field the names of Henry 
Clive and C. V. Millard should be chronicled. 

Maxfield Parrish, whom we must always thank for producing one 
of the most thoroughly charming of American posters '^Century, Midsum- 
mer jSgy/^ is ever original, bizarre, and rich in conception. One of his 
many characteristics is a love of detail (at the expense of poster-efficiency), 
with a quaintly elaborate, almost over-studied, technique. He revels in 
intricate plajrs of light, shade, and shadow, and in the production of even, 
though interesting, textures with occasional gently graded tones. His 
lettering, sometimes bold and sometimes subordinate, is always legible. 
Compared, in point of poster value, with Cheret, it might be said that his 
work lacks strength through too much finesse, and that none of his posters 
could attract attention across a street. 

Within recent years Parrish has made several drawings for display 
advertising which are among the finest achievements in advertising in this 
country. This work consisted of a window-card for **Djer-Kiss" powder, 
also largely used in full color in the magazines, three twenty-four sheet 
posters for "Fisk Tires" and four superb paintings for the "Edison Mazda 
Lamp/' used primarily as calendars (masterpieces of fine lithography), 
and incidentally in magazine color pages. The most recent is a twenty- 
four sheet for '^Hire's Root Beer," from which the use of one individual 
figure is more effective than the poster as a whole. There are also two 
posters for "Ferry's Seeds." 

J. C. Leyendeckcr attracts, delights, and stimulates by his now 
famous free and dashing technique, which possesses all the abandon but 
none of the disregard for detail that characterizes the impressionist. His 
work has the appearance of having been once drawn, and never "touched 
up" or tampered with after it has been put on the canvas. This gives it 
a frank character all its own, and seems a dare to "Take it or leave it 



c™«,« ,/ ,«( „ftri,»w b, CENTURY MAGAZINE POSTER 

'■'"^"'^ '^''"'""' August, 1897 

Maxfield Parrish 
•47 



CKMi^of SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

Scrilmn', Maiam, August, 1 897 

Maxfield Pamush 
'49 



C»pynghua by 

Central Eltcttic Company 



EDISON MAZDA 
Maxfield Parrish {1920) 

'J' 



152 J. C. LEYENDECKER Chap.IF 

— there it is/' There is nothing apologetic about this style, and for its 
purpose of advertisingi it succeeds at sight. The consummately clever 
motor-car advertisement for the '^Pierce- Arrow/' and the clean-cut 
sketches of thoroughly eligible young men, have been refreshing notes of 
real brilliancy in the general run of mediocre posters in America. 

In the '7vory poster— one of J. C. Leyendecker's first im- 
portant designs, the clever work, though with a little less surety, which 
characterizes the present work of both the brothers, is evident. And his 
happy seizure of the coincidence of the bath-robe and the position of the 
letter *'0" in the main word has made a saint of an every-day mortal, and 
cemented his entire composition together in a subtle way productive of 
suggestions larger than his actual material in hand. It is quaint and 
original where it might have been commonplace and stupid. And might one 
not read in the saint-and-soap combination that "Cleanliness is next to God- 
liness ?** 

In passing, one is inclined to take exception to the comments of a 
contemporary critic, who remarks, with regard to J. C. Leyendecker's 
"collar and cuff" advertisements (in the Third Annual Poster Show of 
1 9 id), that those groups showing a party of strikingly au fait people at 
the Horse Shdw, and the three golfers on a porch, playing with a collie, 
overshoot the mark with regard to strict adherence to the collars 
and cuffs under consideration. One would submit that while the actual 
subjects in view in the advertisement are excellent in themselves, they can 
hardly be conceded to constitute alone an entirely adequate raiment even 
for golf or the Horse Show, and that a none-too-broad artistic license 
might well allow Mr. Leyendecker not only to suggest the essentials of 
dress as well as the accessories, but also to present a general setting of 
more or less exclusive refinement, implying as it does, the entree of the ad- 
vertised product in our "best society." 



THE4.AiiiAllGUST 



Cmn,n of c,l CENTURY MAGAZINE POSTER 

S7?JX'?».^..y .. „. . August, .8,7 

First Pnzc, Century Poster Contest 

J. C. Leyendeckeb 

'53 



CimFtety of and coPyrightid by IVORY SOAP 

T*. Pr^,Ur-C<,mU, Co»fw j q I^veNDECKER ( I900) 

•SS 



THE PIERCE ARROW 
J. C. Leyendecker (1909) 



c.w,«./o»J INTERWOVEN SOCKS 

aS™ sZ.«., c,.,o„ J- C. Levendeckeh (.920) 

'S9 



Courttty of and 
Cotyrighttd by 
Liggttt md Mtytn Tobacco Co. 



ITS A CHESTERFIELD 

J. C. Leyendbcker (1920) 

j6i 



I62 WILD HACK Chap.IV 

Mr* Penfield we knowi and consequently appreciate! and in another 
chapter his work is more carefully considered. It is only in contrast to 
some present*day posters that I speak of his early technique as consisting 
of broad color-contrasts in perfectly flat massesi with delineation by means 
of strong black outlines. His present work, indeed, has grown widely dif- 
ferent from his work at the time of the '^Poster Calendar^^ and the old 
^^Harper^s" posters, and the development requires a study more detailed 
than the present chapter would allow. 

Most noticeably at variance with this type of poster is that as 
designed by R. J. Wildhack, who works almost without a single line, 
entirely in contrasting masses, cleverly juxtaposed to produce strong effects. 
Nor is his range elaborate or in any way obscure — ^indeed its keynote is 
absolute simplicity, wherein lies its strength. The poster illustrated in the 
first chapter is pre-eminently excellent in every way, and fulfills every 
elusive tenet of poster design to the last degree. 

Mr. Wildhack understands the principle and most important points 
involved in the design of a successful poster. He eliminates detail, but 
suggests its existence. He keeps his action at the front of the stage, and 
grandly ignores backgrounds. He shuns masses of small letters, and keeps 
his main legend clearly in mind, dashing it in with bold and graceful pro- 
portions, not only keeping it in scale with his composition, but usually 
incorporating it, as well. His '^September Scribner^s/^ in the first chapter, 
as well as nearly all his other work, carries also that psychological sense- 
impression which raises it above the danger of being merely clever — and 
makes it clever poster work. 

In the *' Pierce- Arrov/* he presents a dazzling array of strong 
sunlight-and-shadow values, no less striking than in the '^September Scrib- 
if^r^y' poster, and the details of the motor car are masterfully suggested 
rather than in any sense delineated. One must know that the railed board- 



THE PIERCE ARROW 
Robert J. WiLDHACK (1910) 

163 



l64 BREHM, FANCHER Chap.IV 



walk where the car is stopping is at a beach, so he has introduced a toy 
pail and shovel in the foreground — a naive group which presents in itself 
an uncommonly pretty play of bold shadow-work. And it were hard to find 
on an American poster a bit of lettering at once so simple, so intricate, so 
legible, and so much a part of the composition, both in scale and design as 
this bold legend whose place seems to defy actual location — ^being neither 
in the background nor in the foreground, nor yet, apparently, in any sense 
confused with the action of the middle distance. 

As Mr. Wildhack himself says: **A poster can give no more than 
the Spirit* or the 'atmosphere* of the subject . . . " And surely this 
theory on his part is belied by none of his posters, and is illustrated with 
particular force by his clever poster for a recent novel, ''The Circular 
Staircase," which contains much besides its actual poster values. 

In the collar poster — ^the equestrienne — George Brehm, of whose 
work it is typical, has presented an inelaborate idea in a clean, pleas- 
ant, straightforward way. Fortunate in his model and his subject, he has 
plainly made the best of both, with a happy result, at once simple and sig- 
nificant. It is essentially American, and equally essentially of the best that 
is American — and, characteristically, it speaks for itself. 

Louis Fancher has developed a technique suggesting, more than 
anything else, the work of certain European designers. He has, of late, 
strongly shown the influence of the great Ludwig Hohlwein, of Munich. 
There is a certain feeling in his work that makes definition very difficult, 
and withal there is a distinct and practical conception of the idea of a 
poster. All of which will be seen upon a study of his early ''Scribncr^s'^ 
poster, in which the outline is not strong, nor is it weak — and the same 
may be said of the colors. The exact values are very elusive and hard to 
define, in much the same manner that a technical analysis of most Japanese 
work is totally bafiling and equally unprofitable. And unconsciously or 



Cnrun ./ SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

*"*~^' """'■"' (March, 1906) Robert J. Wudhack 

16s 



Courttsy of and copyrighted by THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE 

Tkt Bobbt-MtrrUl Company ROBERT J. WlLDHACK { 1908) 

i6y 



SKETCHES FOR POSTERS 

AND MAGAZINE COVER 

Robert J. Wildhack 

i6g 



no FANCHER, TREIDLER, COOPER Chap. IF 



■ 



Otherwise, Mr. Fancher made this poster with an Oriental subtlety entirely 
unlike any other work he has done. More characteristic of his work is 
the twenty-four-sheet poster for '^Sumurun/^ one of best things ever done 
in this country. In draughtsmanship, color and in the effective lighting 
(as though from foot-lights) it is a powerful piece of poster work, and 
quite eclipses its smaller companion poster, a two-sheet, in which the 
^^beautiful slave girl,*' drawn identically as in the large poster, is seen in 
a cage, held up by the hunchbadc. 

Adolph Treidler strikes a note sdll different, and distinctly interest- 
ing. He plays with light and shadow, with vigor and dexterity, depending 
for his effects upon strong illusions brought out simply by the skillful 
handling of broad masses of light and dark. His delineation by means of 
shadows shows how much may be accomplished by a kind of negative pre- 
sentation of values. 

Among those abo whose work shows most interesting progress 
along the lines of good poster work, is M. C. Perley. For an informal ex- 
ample the sketch for a cigarette poster C^Cigarettes FanchcT^') illustrates 
a phase of his style quite adequately. 

F. G. Cooper has contributed consistently to the development of 
the poster in this country, and has always been conspicuous for excellent 
poster lettering, vigorous and legible. He is responsible for the present 
popularity of ^lower case,*' or small Roman letters instead of capital 
letters, and after Penfield, was the first to point out the advantages of this 
kind of lettering on the score of better legibility. If, of necessity, the 
message to be lettered on a poster is lengthy, it will be found most difficult 
to read if rendered entirely in capital letters, as the eye is far more accus- 
tomed to reading the smaller letters. One of the most familiar of Mr. 
Cooper's advertising devices is the trade-mark of the New York Edison 
Company, the quaint little Colonial man with the electric lamp bulb, who 



ARROW COLLAR 
George Brehm (1910} 



1 
i 

I 

Cmusy <,f Siribnn-s M^lm SCRIBNER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

(September, 1907) Louis Fancher 

173 



Si 



SUMURUN 

Louis Fancher (1913) 

•75 



milfrii, UnfuilisM A CORNER OF THE STUDIO 

Adolph Treidler (1911) 
'77 



ALICE. 



Hithtrto UnpuNUhtd ALICE 

Adolph Treidler ( 191 i) 

77P 



HIIWM Vtip^Uitlud ALI EBN BECAR 

Adolph Tfeidler (1909) 



sni 



SPIRIT LAND 

F. G. Cooper 

■S3 



AMERICA'S TRIBUTE TO BRITAIN 

F. G. Cooper (1921) 

•8s 



CIGARETTE FANCHEZ 

M. C. Perley (1911) 

,87 



I88 FALLS, WILCOX Chap.IV 



developed into an entire series of advertising drawings. Mr. Cooper has 
also made posters every year for the Electrical Show, and his work has 
more than fulfilled the promise of the early wood-block **one-sheets" which 
he made for Keith's Fifth Avenue Theatre. Of these, ''Spirit Land*^ 
shows the excellent, simple, broad style which exemplifies the essence of 
the poster. 

Another artist whose work is somewhat in the same vein as F. G. 
Cooper is C. B. Falls, who is one of the best poster men in this country. 
Falls succeeds in getting the effect of interesting texture in much of his 
work, and his color is always rich and unusual. Like Cooper, he is an ex- 
ceptionally fine letterer and a good draughtsman, and the work of both 
men impels the critic to wonder at the ineptness of the frequently heard 
statement that America possesses no real poster artists. There are many, 
of remarkable ability, brilliance and resourcefulness. The reason they 
are less known, and are given such rare opportunities to show their powers 
is to be found in the lack of discernment among most buyers of advertis- 
ing art when confronted with the problem of the poster. 

Recent years have not only seen the production of much fine poster 
work in this country by men who had attained distinction before 19 lo, but 
have also seen the "arrival" of many new men, whose work gives promise 
of even better posters during the next ten years. 

Paragraphic conmientary on the remaining illustrations in this chap- 
ter will add many names to the roll of American poster designers, and it 
is the writer's only regret that more space is not available in this edition 
for both text and illustration covering more extensive selections of the 
newer work. 

Roy Marvin Wilcox, from the evidence of his ''Meteor^* automo- 
bile poster, should be better known as a poster designer. This example 
certainly illustrates Hamilton King's dictum that a poster should be "a 



Ci..ri«j«/ METEOR MOTORS 

Mr. H. R. Lou.,1,^,, Jr. ^^^ ^^^^,^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ 



c».n.«r «/ MAUDE ADAMS 

Cfc,rt«Fr.»~..,£«. Blendon Campbell 

•9' 



} 



192 McMEIN, PHILLIPS, SHERIDAN Chap. IV 

flash of color." There is speed in this poster, as the car seems to swoop 
downward and then up towards you in' a breathless dip, and the fantastic 
swirl of color is a bold picturization of the name. An expert in the de- 
lineation of the motor car, Mr. Wilcox has also made some splendid 
paintings of the Rolls-Royce, Cunningham and du Pont cars. 

Through the attainment of a remarkable mastery of pastel. Miss 
Neysa McMein has made a unique position for herself in the field of maga- 
zine covers and posters. Best known in the former work, she has high 
possibilities in the latter, where her able draughtsmanship gains the re- 
quisite poster strength in large size reproduction. She has done posters 
for the Girl Scouts of America and for The Young Women's Christian 
Association, and the illustration shows a window-card for ** Wallace Silver/' 
charming in execution, and cleverly composed so that the exquisite grace of 
the figure makes an effective contrast with the massive solidity of the chest 
of silverware. The type of the young bride is characteristic of Miss Mc- 
Mein's work, for she is very discriminating in her choice of models. 

For some time confined to magazine covers, the work of C. Coles 
Phillips gradually attained poster value, and appeared in twenty-four-sheet 
form for the Overland Motor Car. Better known, however, are his 
"Luxite Hosiery" and '^Holeproof' advertisements, which appeared in full 
color as magazine pages and also as one-sheet posters. Whatever Mr. 
Phillips' technique may lack in the breadth which makes for poster value, 
it compensates in qualities of chic and finish which give it a high advertis- 
ing value, and accord it a strong demand in the advertising world. 

John E. Sheridan, after years of experience in making group draw- 
ings for young men's clothes, has developed a free, spontaneous quality 
which possesses high advertising value and excellent poster strength. The 
illustration shows a typical example, chosen as being thoroughly character- 
istic of his work, and also because of the inclusion in the design of C. B. 



CowKfl. 0/ o~< A TREASURE CHEST OF 

R"^SffPsc ««»/««.ri.<, Co. WALLACE SILVER 

Nevsa McMein (1920) 
'93 



Com,n >tond HOLEPROOF HOSIERY 

nSSfiSl'll^^y Comp«,y C. Coles Phillips ( 192 i ) 

'95 



This country can't 
afford waste in 
food or clothes— 
neither can you. Our 
clothes wear long and save 




Conrtety of and 
Copyrighted by 
Hart. Schaffner Sr Marx 



HART, SCHAFFNER & MARX POSTER 

John E. Sheridan (1919) 

197 



200 BEALE, HEITLAND Chap.IV 

Fall's book poster (see page 283) made during the war to solicit donations 
of books for men in the service. Hart, Schafner &f Marx have for some 
years used enlarged Caslon type in place of hand lettering, even in their 
larger posters, an interesting device, and one which has proved very suc- 
cessful. 

For some years the group of men who made the posters for this 
firm consisted of Edward Penfield, John £• Sheridan, Leon Gordon and 
F. Nelson Abbott. Abbott's earlier work was always interesting, but 
peculiarly meticulous in detail — a style from which he has found a brilliant 
escape in his more recent work, such as the painting of the sailor, dream- 
ing over a sweetheart's face in a locket. Here is color, breadth and a 
free, spontaneous manner of delineation splendidly suited to poster work. 

One of the newer men, a colorist and a technician, is C. C. Beale, 
who made a very interesting series of paintings for ^'Chickering Pianos J^ 
His style has the distinct charm of the unusual, and is essentially artistic, 
in both line and color, suggesting, as it does, that he is a thorough admirer 
of Japanese prints. 

^Toster quality" is a strange thing, in that it often makes a poster 
good in spite of detrimental factors. The high order of ''poster quality" 
in W. E. Heitland's ^'Columbia Graphophone*^ poster, of the Spanish 
dancer in red makes it one of the best posters of the year. It is tre- 
mendously effective, very decorative and gorgeously oblivious of the figure 
drawing which may or may not exist between the waist line and the feet. 
Zuloaga's shawl aids the decorative effect. With a splendid opportunity 
Mr. Heitland achieved a poster (illustrated here without its lettering) by 
all means one of the most important of the year. 

The poster critic has for some years observed with increasing inter- 
est the technique of Leon Gordon, who has done some of the most impor- 
tant recent poster work in America. It has constantly improved toward a 



CHICKERING PIANOS 
C. C. Beale (1920) 



cT"V,'d'b' COLUMBIA GRAPHOPHONE 

CcOd'cm'tliaH^n, CoKfiiii, WiLMOT HeITLAND (I920) 

20S 



204 GORDON, DAVENPORT, OBERHARDT Chap. IV 

greater sincerity, and certain charges of superficiality which have been 
brought against it are readily dismissed when it is made known that Mr. 
Gordon developed impressionistic qualities as an earnest protest against 
the too-literal and ''photographic" presentation of advertised products. 
It is his belief that the impression is more important than actual repre- 
sentation, and in thus carrying the creed of the impressionists into the field 
of advertising art, he has made a distinctly worthwhile contribution. He 
believes, too, in vivid and vivacious color, and in the '' Modern Master- 
piece'' clothing poster he shows, as well, a keen sense for clever, striking 
and ori^nal advertising ideas. This is a poster which, in both idea and 
execution stands high among American posters. 

Another artist who produces poster work in somewhat the vein 
of C. C. Beale is Edmund Davenport, who works with a no less decorative 
and interesting ''sketchiness," but with a somewhat heavier line. His 
color, too, is a little more vigorous, and his work on a striking set of win- 
dow cards in full color, for ''Sweet-Orr'' Overalls prompts the hope that 
his hand will be seen in some large and important poster assignment. 
This set of window cards interestingly portrays the world-wide distribu- 
tion of the advertised product, by means of different strange beasts of 
burden transporting it across the distant countries of the earth. 

A recent (1920-21) development of poster advertising is seen in 
the use of large heads, especially for cigarettes and tobacco. Notable in 
this class of posters is the great J. C. Leyendecker series for ^^Chesterfield" 
cigarettes, and the heads done by William Oberhardt for ''Fatima^' cigar- 
ettes. Merit in these series of posters, as well as the posters for ''Pied' 
mont Cigarettes" and "Velvet Pipe Tobacco," is due to the discrimination 
of Mr. F. A. Wilson, art director for the manufacturers — as in the case 
of Mr. Pick and the London Underground Railways Company. The ad- 
vertising value of the "large head" type of poster lies not only in the 






A MODERN MASTERPIECE 
Leon Gordon (1917) 

20S 



SWEET, ORR OVERALLS 

Edmund Davenport (1920) 

207 



2o8 MEYERS, WHITEHEAD Chap.IF 

'iarge effect" in general, and in the ^gantic scale achieved in the twenty- 
four-sheet sizes, but in the opportunity to delineate the character in the 
face of the user of the product. This character delineation, if successfully 
done, accomplishes a large part of the advertising message, and in this 
type of work Mr. Oberhardt has attained first-rank distinction. 

One of the best twenty-four-sheet posters ever produced in this 
country was painted by Harry Morse Meyers, whose work possesses cer- 
tain marked characteristics of distinct poster value. The first of these, 
composition is admirably illustrated in the ^'Chalmers** twenty-four-sheet. 
The low viewpoint adds to the scale and impressiveness of the motor car, 
and the grouping of the figures is excellently thought out. Good drawing, 
and a liking for vigorous color both add to the value of Mr. Meyer's 
work, and above all it is characterized by the spirit of realism, of real 
people doing real and likely things. And he owns a happy knack of get- 
ting a great deal of outdoors into his paintings — to such an extent, indeed, 
that an instinctive feeling of actually being outdoors is experienced as a 
first reaction. (The lettering illustrated is roughly sketched in.) 

In connection with two twenty-four-sheet posters made for 'TiVi- 
monf^ cigarettes by Walter Whitehead, a brief commentary on the prob- 
lem of this type of poster should be made. And the same problem is in- 
volved in the car-card, which is of only slightly different proportion. The 
long horizontal is an extremely difficult shape in which to secure a ''large 
effect" — z circumstance which has added to the popularity of the "large 
head" for twenty-four-sheets — utilized notably by several popular brands 
of cigarettes, and in a fine series (1921) by Clarence Underwood for 
"Palmolive Soap." The ingenious device in the two *'Piedmonf' posters 
is found in the illusion of large scale in the figures produced by the low 
horizon line, and the distant miniature landscapes. I have never seen full- 
length figures more cleverly managed in the design of twenty-four-sheet 



FATIMA 

a sensible cigarette 

Juit mouiiA'JmAiik' 
20AZ5* -thafe wljy ' 



Cot»rtf*y oj mi FATIMA 

'L&t'ulym Totcn Co. WiLLIAM ObEHHARDT (IJJO) 



Co^Mj 0/ o«i CHALMERS 

'elSH'.VoL Cr C. HAiav MOKSE MeYERS ( I92O) 

2og 



210 SUMMARY Chap.IV 



posters, and these were equally effective as car-cards. The coloring is 
excellent, the technique broad and vigorous and the lettering straight- 
forward and honest in design, excellently conforming to the Colonial spirit 
intended in the whole concept. 

The designer of the twenty-four-sheet or the car-card cannot study 
his space too carefully, or afford to under-rate the design problem involved. 
The recent distinct improvement in this type is obviously of great signifi- 
cance in the development of American posters. 

Sunmiarizing this chapter, one point aside from the many of color, 
composition, technique and lettering should stand out. The poster in 
America has developed tremendously, and partly as a cause and partly as 
a result, poster artists have developed in this country. Let us recognize 
their ability and encourage it, and cease the old habit of looking constantly 
over our shoulders at the work of European poster artists. We can learn 
much from them, but let us cease the student weakness of copying them. 
Let us feel that we are making and will make posters here, the work of 
American artists, that will be sought and copied by European art students. 
Certainly, in poster design, if we do not stop following, it will be many 
years before we can hope to lead. 

On the whole, we are making better posters to-day than ever before 
— posters which have none of the amateur appearance of much earlier 
work, and posters which more effectively convey specific advertising 
messages. 



PIEDMONT CIGARETTES 
Walter Whitehead (1921) 



CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK POSTER 

Jessie Wacox Smith (1921) 

"3 



Chap.V EARLY PERIOD 215 



CHAPTER V. 
The Work of Edward Penfield. 

It must be kept in mind that the work of Mr. Penfield presents a 
distinct and very pronounced development, of which, however, the extra- 
ordinary range is more in the matter of technique than of feeling. These 
periods, roughly speaking, comprise his early work, his first change of 
style, his work in Holland, and lastly his present work, as represented 
particularly by his drawings in Spain, and generally by a kind of selective 
composite of everything that is best in all his previous work. 

His early period, represented by the old posters for Harper's 
Magazine beginning in 1892 — the first real posters to appear in America 
— ^were not influenced by French masters to any degree whatever, in spite 
of a visit to Paris about this time. For all of Mr. Penfield's training was 

« 

in the Art Students' League in New York, and the only element of outside 
inspiration of any kind entering into these first posters came from a source 
at once unexpected and bizarre — from a precedent of precedents, though 
by no means a source which the keenest analysis of his work could discover. 
And this source was nothing less than the treatment of groups of figures on 
the Egyptian sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum, a treatment bold 
and flat of mass, with deverly contrasted colors and heavy black outlines — 
the first posters in all the world. So with this inspiration in the point 
merely of actual color and technique, it is to be concluded at once that the 
composition of Mr. Penfield's posters was utterly and entirely original — 
that his startling unbalanced compositions, his infallible sense of suggest- 
ing a large idea on a small sheet of paper, and his massive, cleanly drawn 



2l6 EDWARD PENFIELD Chap.V 

letters — ^were his own. There were many imitators — after the first few of 
the 'Tenfield Posters'* appeared, but the public adhered to the original, 
and the demand for these quaint and absolutely new drawings became more 
and more frantic, until it seems that the editions of the posters exceeded in 
number and demand the editions of the magazine itself. This was at the 
height of the ''fad," when, as outlined in the preceding chapter, America 
was in the throes of a wide-spread convulsion in matters of art in general. 
It is not of this phase of the question that one proposes to deal — ^not with 
the tremendous popularity of the moment, but rather with the lasting excel- 
lence of these early posters by Mr. Penfield, the excellence which makes 
them just as intrinsically good now as they were then, and which has defied 
the years that have elapsed since their production to fade their charm in 
any way. 

Technically, all of these first posters were similar — in point of the 
unique properties of each one in other respects, they demand the most 
individual attention. 

Under the first head they will be found to present all of the essen- 
tial poster-values making for excellence, and to show this the more clearly 
by a sweeping and masterful elimination of all those stupid and ill-studied 
mistakes which blight so many examples of work by contemporary and 
subsequent designers. 

The analysis of **The Poster Calendar ^ i8gf^ applies in every par- 
ticular to all Mr. Penficld's work of this period. Recapitulating these 
points, one finds strong composition, equally strong color, applied in great 
fiat masses, bold delineation of outline, and lettering at once an integral 
part of the whole, and unquestionably adequate and co-important in mass 
and relative scale. There are no confusing elements of composition — ^no 
puzzling distances or distracting backgrounds. All the action is at the 
front of the stage, and any accessories that appear are so skillfully sub- 



Courtesy of 
Harfer's Magatint 



HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 
Edward Penfield 

217 



2i8 HARPER POSTERS Chap.V 

tssssssisaB^BsssBs^sssssggsaB^^sssssssssssas^m^sa^ssss:ss^s^ 
ordinated as to detract in no measure from the simplicity of motive and 
directness of story as expressed by the main figures. Masses of small let- 
ters have been sublimely ignored, and every one of these posters breathes of 
a largeness and freedom peculiarly adapting them for purposes of out- 
door advertising. They are all so eminently self-sufficient — ^with a poise 
of their own and a gracious self-assurance like well-bred people, never ob- 
trusive, but ever prepared to take their part in whatever surroundings their 
fortunes may place them. One has hung these posters in every kind of 
room and habitation — but they never seem out-of-place or tiresome. Some 
of them always carry a free breath of out-doors, while others as distinctly 
suggest different pleasant trains of thought. Surely, this is personality — 
these posters have actual character. 

They speak for themselves, and show their almost unique value as 
posters by needing no elaborate interpretation. The hansom-cab is thrust 
into the foreground with masterfully clever audacity, and plainly suggests 
by its largeness of scale an idea larger than the confines of the sheet. It 
will be observed upon a study of the twelve posters of this series presented 
here, that in only one is the entire figure inside the edges of the sheet, and 
in only one is the lettering in any degree detached from the composition 
as a whole. They are all of strong and simple yet highly original coloring. 
The voyagers ensconced in steamer-chairs, the visitors at the Horse Show, 
the various care-free vacationists at the seashore — all tell their story and 
suggest as well the various pleasant pursuits of pleasant people. 

The bizarre pose of the girl in the great rocking-chair is a wonder- 
fully apt instance of the cleverest kind of informality in design, combined 
with strong value in suggested proportion. The coloring is as simple and 
apparently ingenuous as the drawing, and the whole as thoroughly inimit- 
able as it is characteristic of Mr. Penfield. 

Of this whole series, the "May** poster, of the girl with the two 



Cnrim If HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

H^t^, "«•»■"« Edwakd Penfield 

"9 



220 EDWARD PENFIELD Chap.V 



Angora cats has, perhaps, the greatest and most lasting charm. Its quaint 
originality and again the absolute informality of its subject and the extra- 
ordinary simplicity of its treatment make it a poster that one remembers 
for years after it has been put away. It is plainly of the same order as the 
"Poster Calendar'* and if it is not as strictly appropriate or specifically 
suggestive, its charm alone would carry it, with its strong poster values. 

Not long after the cessation of this series came the first noticeable 
change in Mr. Penfield*s technique. About 1899 or 1900 appeared draw- 
ings with the same feeling as the old "Harpe/s*' work, but with finer out- 
lines and more carefully studied delineation of face. Though later in 
date, the "Metropolitan Magazine'' cover for July (in chapter VII) is a 
fair example of this. Much commercial work and many cover-designs 
for "Collie/s Weekly" and "The Saturday Evening Post" appeared, with 
technique alternating sometimes toward the old work and sometimes toward 
the new. 

This reversion to the characteristic old method of bold line and 
simple idea is typified by his own book-plate, done about 1902, which is as 
charming as anything from his brush and possibly of greater charm than 
some more pretentious works. 

Besides the famous "Poster Calendar" of 1897, Mr. Penfield de- 
signed a "Golf Calendar'* in 1899 (Reprinted in 1900 with a new cover- 
design), a very clever "Stencil Calendar^' in 1904, and an "Automobile Cal- 
endar" in 1907. There was also the "Country Carts" series, in 1900 — a 
portfolio of cleverly studied yet simply rendered drawings of various types 
of dog-cart and breaking-cart and the like. 

The details of the construction of these, and of the essentials of 
the harness are manipulated with a skill characteristic of no one but Mr. 
Penfield, and this same artistic accuracy he later applied to the mechanism 
of automobiles. A machine so utterly modern as the automobile called for 



HARPER'S 



c».ri,.,./ HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

"■""■' "«"■■"« Edward FENFiEto 



222 LATER METHOD Chap.V 

immediate ingenuity on the part of the designers in general to devise some 
means of portraying it in a manner at once convincing and artistic. There 
was no precedent in the matter, and many attempts were made, and are 
still being made, to present not only an automobile, but some specific make 
and at the same time not to let that presentation become in any way photo- 
graphic. 

Mr. Penfield stepped into the breach at once, and deftly delineated 
motor-cars in a sort of poster short-hand that was both adequate and 
pleasing, for his conscientious studies of harness and of carriage construc- 
tion gave him a tremendous advantage over his contemporaries, and were 
directly applicable to the delineation of the motor-car. 

An interesting estimate of Mr. Penfield*s work, in a review written 
perhaps ten years ago, brings out rather clearly some significant points : 

^'Edward Penfield has a reputation, not confined to our own shores, 
as the creator of the American poster . . . Mr. Penfield is one of 
the few manipulators of brush and pen who have adapted themselves 
gracefully and on a high plane to the demand of modem art conditions in 
this country. One must argue from his work to the man a fine perception 
of the commercial purveyor's needs and his desire to please the multitude. 
Whether the purveyor has for sale an art tome or a laundry soap matters 
little with Mr. Penfield, so that he has a free hand when called upon to 
symbolize an object In the universal language of line and color. He has 
never been of the artistic cult which raises hands of horror at commercial- 
ism. It has always been so much the vogue among artists to decry anything 
that smacked of business or that was not wholly subtle, that the creations of 
Mr. Penfield's brusque artistry came upon these sensitive souls in the nature 
of a shock. And yet, mystery of mysteries, his work was confessedly inter- 
esting, his compositions 'bully,' and his color-schemes exquisite. The Ten- 
field Poster' came into being with a kind of masterful complacency, and it 



Cnmn cf HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

"•""'' »«»»"■"« Edward Penfield 

213 



224 EDWARD PENFIELD Chap.V 

has outlived all its competitors. To-day it is accepted along with wireless 
telegraphy and motor trucks. Mr. Penfield has never quite abandoned his 
familiar poster-style; it is too much a part of him to be set aside whether 
he will or not. His work needs no signature to be recognized. He has 
grown more sound in his drawing of late; his hand is firmer and his ideas 
are more simple and far-reaching. But the agreeable flat tones, the big 
masses of light and shade, the general largeness of his work, are now, as 
they have always been, a delight to the eye/' 

Mr. Penfield made two very successful inroads upon the field of 
mural decorations some years ago— -first in a group of collegians in the 
breakfast room of Randolph Hall in Cambridge, and again for the living- 
room in a country club at Rochester. These digressions from strictly 
"commercial art" were executed in such spirit as to render them thoroughly 
happy in their effects, and their success, indeed, would go far to prove 
an analogy stated by Mr. Wildhack between posters and mural decora- 
tions, for Mr. Wildhack holds the theory that audacity of conception, 
boldness and freedom of delineation, general simplicity of technique, and 
combined strength and refinement of color should be common to both. 

Although Mr. Penfield visited Holland in 1899, it was not until 
his second visit, in 1902, that his delightful sketches of Dutch girls, wind- 
mills and canals, began to appear. The quaint simplicity of all things 
Dutch happens to be peculiarly adaptable to translation in poster style, and 
of this peculiarity Mr. Penfield took full advantage. Upon his visit to 
Spain five years later, however, the complexity of values in line and color 
and national atmosphere forced him into a style quite different from any 
work he had done before. 

The **Holland Sketches/' after appearing in magazine form, with 
charming text (characterized in a modest but very misleading manner 
by the artist-author as 'an excuse to publish the illustrations*) were brought 



Ccmrt,,, oi HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

H"t^' "M"*" Edward Penfield 

"5 



226 WORK IN HOLLAND AND SPAIN Chap.V 

out in a thoroughly delightful book.* It is fortunate that these sketches, 
unlike Mr. Penfield's more transient work, are thus permanently preserved. 

The technique in these drawings will be observed to be very dose 
in feeling to his much earlier work, though with greater finesse of line, 
assurance of delineation and simply expressed complexity of color. 

In 1907 Mr. Penfield visited Spain, and his '^Impressions'^t as they 
subsequently appeared in ^'Scribner's Magazine''— 4ext and sketches- 
added a new chapter to the development of his style, and created much 
interest among those who had studied it in past years. 

For in nearly all this work the characteristic black outline was 
abandoned, and the studies were of the value of very charming pictures 
rather than posters. The drawing was very assured, the colors of a soft 
blended quality, no longer in flat masses, and the whole feeling that of the 
artist rather than the designer. 

From the standpoint of poster values, indeed the Spanish sketches 
possess not even such an intention on the part of their author, and the typi- 
cal example presented here is simply by way of post-script and by virtue 
of the fact that the immediate consideration in this chapter is the illustra- 
tion of the entire range of Mr. Penfield's versatility. 

Retrospectively considered, it is not to be questioned but that Mr. 
Penfield's work in the poster field, from its earliest beginnings, has been of 
significance unequalled by that of any one other designer. There were 
never any retrograde periods or even intervals of inactivity in his con- 
stant and untiring presentation of drawing after drawing — each one of 
which had its effect in the gradual upward trend of commercial art in 
America — each one of which was a shot fired in a steadily winning battle. 

♦"Holland Sketches," Charles Scribncr's Sons, New York, 1907. 
t "Spanish Sketches," Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 191 x. 



c^n »/ HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

Hurp^i Mwu~ Edward Penfieid 

22J 



Cc^t»y cf HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

Har/er't Maouint EdWARO PeNFIELB 



c^i'n I'f HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

mrf^. Uc,„^ EdWAUD PENHEtD 

231 



Coum,y,f HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTER 

"">"■' "v^" (Mjy, 1897) Edward Penfiem 

'33 



Jf^^ ^^ . HARPER'S MAGAZINE POSTERS 

atanm EDWARD PeNHELD 

'3S 



c«i.rt«j. d mi ntyrithui b, COVER DESIGN FOR 

Chart,, Smh.n', i«», HOLLAND SKETCHES 

Edward Penfield (1907) 
'37 



HOLLAND SKETCHES 

Edward Penfibld (1907) 

'39 



Cciirut, 0/ ..ri Cctjriiiiud lis A HOLLAND SKETCH 

Charles Scribne/s Sunt EdwAKD PeNFIELD (1907) 

241 



Hithtrlo UnpabtisM SILHOUETTES 

Edward Penfield 



C<mrUa of oiKl Conriikuj h, A SPANISH IMPRESSION 

ClarU, Stribnn', Son, EdWARD PeNFIELD ( 1 909 ) 

2« 



■ I 



Court fjy of and cofyrighttd by 
Alfred Barlleti. Esg. 



STENCILED CALENDAR FOR 1904 

Edward Penfield 

2^7 



c...riOT./»,j HART, SCHAFFNER St MARX POSTER 

SST'ffi^iX- * M^x Edwakd Penfieid (1911) 

2fg 



Chap. VI POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR 251 



CHAPTER VI. 

Posters and the World War. 

In no like period of dme in the history of the world were so many 
posters designed and used, or so many celebrated artists engaged in the 
making of them as during the period of the Great Wan 

* **War, destroyer of many things, has brought the poster into its 
own, has made the poster fulfill its greatest destiny. Enthusiasts of the 
old days of the poster, about the dme of the Worlds* Fair at Chicago, 
could never have foreseen that their favorite form of art, even then a very 
ephemeral by-product of the studios, would come to hold, as it does to-day, 
the forefront of the stage. 

*' Certainly we have proof for all time that art is capable of rising 
to the worldwide call to arms, that art is more than a pleasant incident 
in life, a non-essential form of aesthetic and intellectual entertainment. 

**And the poster, so long thoughdessly dismissed as ranging in 
value from the amusing product of an artist's idle hours to a *mere ad- 
vertisement,' now stands before us as a more forceful aid to nationwide 
publicity than any other means employed by the Government or by any war 
activity to reach all the people, every day, everywhere. 

**The call to arms was sounded by recruiting posters; food con- 
servation was put constandy before the nation ; the loans were proclaimed 
and stimulated; the Red Cross set forth its vast and mericful mission — 
the poster came triumphantly into its own, to perform its daily, its hourly 
service toward winning the war." 

♦ C Matlack Price, The Sun," New York, August 25, 1918, page a 



252 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

It is, unfortunately, impossible to present, in the limits of one 
chapter, a comprehensive discussion of posters of the World Wan Sev- 
eral of the principal nations involved have brought out books covering 
their patriotic poster work. These should be available in the libraries.'*' 

The scope of this chapter can hope only to embrace some of the 
more salient features of the designing of war posters, and to illustrate as 
many representative examples as possible. In many instances, in order to 
make the most of available space and to include examples of the posters 
of many different war activities, four posters are shown on a single page. 

France, Belgium, England and, later, Italy, began early in the war, 
to bring out posters, in a sequence which was subsequently duplicated 
in our country. First came recruiting posters, like a battle-cry, urging 
enlistment with all the eloquence that picture and worded message can 
convey. Second came the battle-cry to the dvilian, in the form of succes- 
sive war-loan posters, which told the people, with ever-increasing earnest- 
ness, that the war was a grim affair, and an expensive affair, and that money 
was needed. Third and fourth, in a scattering but incessant fire came con- 
servation posters and posters of appeal. Food, coal and many other things 
must be conserved; hospitals, milk-funds, homes for destitute dependants 
and a host of other enterprises of aid and mercy needed help. 

In France and Belgium, by reason of the conscription system, re- 
cruiting posters were unnecessary — but the artists, such as were not in the 
trenches, took up their brushes to promote the loans, and stir patriotism. 

Not only among loan posters, but among all the posters motivated 
by the war, one French poster, drawn for the second loan, by Jules Abel 
Faivre stands out as, perhaps the most remarkable and memorable. 

♦The student of the war poster will find in "The Poster Magazine," of Chicago, 
November and December, 1920, issues, a carefully prepared War Poster Bibliography, by 
Harold R. Willoughby. One of the most comprehensive collections of actual war posters is 
that made by Princeton University. 



FRENCH LOAN POSTER 

Jules Able Faivre 

'S3 



254 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

Across the sheet of paper sweeps a poilu, full of actioni heroism, 
qplrit The drawing has extraordinary life and elan, a marvelous quality 
of conviction and inspired realism. Caught in the moment of a forward 
charge, the soldier has only an instant to look back, and, with out-flung 
arm, a fine Gaelic gesture of bravado, to shout : "On les auraP^ — "We'll 
get 'em'' — to the civilians who must subscribe to the loan as their share 
of winning the war. 

Technically, this poster affords an interesting illustration of the 
fact that broad, flat masses of color are not essentials in poster treatment 
Because of the bigness and simplicity, as well as the remarkable action and 
life of the figure, the detailed manner in which it is drawn does not offer 
any element of detraction. An effect of large scale is further gained by 
the "close-up" viewpoint. When a poster is as well-drawn as this, and 
composed in such a large forceful manner, no "tridcs" are needed to bring 
it out, or any violent colors. ''On les Aurd* is almost a monotone, but 
the shout of the heroic poxlu will ring down the pages of poster history 
as long as posters are painted, and long after many meaningless "smashes 
of color" are forgotten. 

Second, if not equal in strength, to ''On les aura^* is ''Pour le 
Drapeau, Pour la Fictoire'^ — another loan poster, in which the message 
is shouted by an heroic allegorical figure of France, brandishing aloft a 
sword and a battle-scarred flag. Behind her, in seried ranks, march the 
brave poilus, with beating drums and a forest of flags, while overhead a 
flock of airplanes patrols a stormy, war-racked sky. Such a poster is an 
immortal document of patriotism and the spirit of a nation. It is the 
highest plane to which the poster can be brought. It is a battle-cry, an 
epic and an undying record. 

Four additional French loan posters are illustrated as showing cer- 
tain interesting aspects of "idea" as a definite essential of poster design. 



FRENCH LOAN POSTER 

Georges Scott (1917) 

25J 



256 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap.VI 

The first, C'The Loan of the Last Cartridges ^ One more efort, 
people of France!**) shows the dvilian and a small child, handing up to 
the embattled soldier a box of cartridges and a hand-grenade. Sudi a 
graphic linking up of the need of the soldier and the help needed from the 
civilian affords an excellent study in poster idea-work. 

The second, featuring two figures in the traditional costumes of 
Alsace and Lorraine, waiting to be rescued, was designed to play upon the 
long-standing desire of all French people for the restoration of the lost 
provinces. 

In the third, the wording and pictorial idea are strongly in accord : 
'^For France: Pour out your Gold: Gold fights for Victory** and a gigantic 
French gold-piece is seen crushing a German soldier, the Gallic cock leap- 
ing out from the design of the coin to make the attack more spirited. 

The fourth is especially interesting to Americans, showing, as it 
does, the American Expeditionary Force, arriving on the run, with the 
Spirit of Victory ur^ng them forward to relieve the three Allies, Italy, 
France and England, seen in the persons of three grim soldiers in the fore- 
ground. The technical inaccuracy of showing the A. E. F. in service hats 
instead of metal helmets does not detract seriously from the stirring effect 
of the poster as a whole — and not a few of our own artists made the same 
mistake in the early days of the war. 

Many of the French artists were serving with the colors, but the 
roll of honor in the field of poster design displays sudi names as Steinlen, 
Faivre, Newman, Poidbot and Willctte, and much fine work was done 
by Hansi, the Alsatian. 

Of all the English recruiting posters, none has more action, or 
more attention-value than the splendid "Forward to Victory** painted by 
an anonymous English artist. It is a poster which could not be ignored. 



FRENCH LOAN POSTERS 

An Anonymous Artist, Auguste Leroux, 

Jules Able Faivre and Lucien Jonas 

2S7 



BRITISH RECRUITING POSTER 

An Anonymous Artist 

'59 



260 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap.FI 

or fail to quicken the pube of any man who saw it. Another noteworthy 
English recruiting poster was the great flag, in resplendent color, with 
the world-wide call '^Britishers, Enlist To-day f' This poster was used 
in the Dominions and Colonies, and in other countries, and based its ap- 
peal on the patriotism inspired by sight of the flag. For a poster with- 
out figures or action this is a remarkably effective one. 

John Hassall, long a favorite among English poster designers, 
made, besides other drawings for purposes connected with the war, a 
charming poster for ''The Belgian Canal Boat Fund/* 

Greatest of all English poster artists, Frank Brangwyn at once 
dropped all other work and devoted his entire time to making war 
posters. These posters by Brangwyn, and those of Spencer Pryse are 
undoubtedly the most thoroughly artistic of all English war posters. 
Brangwyn, the son of a Welsh artisan, had spent most of his youth in 
Belgium, and it was natural for him to rise at once to Belgium^s defense 
with a succession of inspired and inspiring posters. 

The United States Navy Recruiting Poster by Brangwyn was 
done at the request of Lieutenant Henry Reuterdafal, and shows, in 
Brangwyn's rugged lithographic manner, a rescue by American sailors of 
the survivors of a ship sunk by a German submarine. 

Some idea of the vast area of activity occupied by the poster is 
to be had from the fact that, in the early stages of the war conmiissions 
were assigned for more than a hundred posters, of which two and a half 
million copies were posted in the British Isles. Many of these first posters, 
as was the case in this country, possessed little merit other than timeliness, 
but as soon as the greater artists became interested, the standard of 
merit rose to the heights of Brangwyn and Pryse. A general improvement, 
too, was distinctly noticeable in 19 15, when the Ministry of Information 
was added to the Parliamentary Recruiting Conmiittee. 



BRITISH RECRUITING POSTER 

Guy LipscoMBE 

26j 



BELGIAN CANAL BOAT FUND 

John Hassall 

2^3 



264 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

Frank Brangwyn, Royal Academidani Bernard Partridgei L. 
Ravenhill, Guy Lipscombe and G. Spenser Pryse were among the more 
prominent British artists who contributed their work. Pryse drew all 
his posters directly on stone, even at the front, and they remained through- 
out the war unsurpassed for strictly artistic qualities. The best known of 
these are 'The Only Road for an Englishman," a powerful drawing of 
the church tower of Ypres, with soldiers, and a hauntingly beautiful poster 
for the Belgian Red Cross Fund. 

No mention of English posters during the war, or, indeed, of 
English posters of several years preceding the war, would be complete 
without a citation of Mr. F. Pick, of the London Underground Railways 
Company. Mr. Pick is probably the most earnest and enthusiastic advo- 
cate of posters in England, and it was through his activity that that Gov- 
ernment got Brangwyn^s "Britain's Call to Arms" and Pryse*s "Only 
Road for an Englishman." Under Mr. Pick's direction the London 
Underground Railways Company brought out a number of "morale" 
posters for the men in France, posters depicting cherished and familiar 
home scenes, scenes of the England for which they were fighting. A re- 
markably beautiful poster of this series, by F. Ernest Jackson, showed a 
peaceful village church, with country folk gathered beneath the trees, in 
a delicate evening haze which imparted to the whole poster almost the 
charm of a Corot. 

Four posters from the Dominions give evidence that those far- 
flung members of the British Empire were not relying, for all their patri- 
otic publicity, upon the mother country. From Canada, *^Your Chums are 
Fighting^ with a very pointed question, and ^^Bring Him Home,** with a 
definite and compelling appeal. From Australia, one of the most dramatic 
of all the war posters. Hovering in the air, a horrified figure of Justice 
points to the murder of Nurse Cavell. Not a word about enlisting— only 



U. S. NAVY RECRUITING POSTER 

Frank Brangwyn 

2O5 



266 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 



the brief but impelling words: ^'Boysf Remember Nurse CavellJ* Play- 
ing upon one of the most ancient of human passions — ^righteous vengeance 
for a cowardly and brutal act, this poster must take its place as one of the 
most effective ever designed for the purpose of causing men to voluntarily 
enlist in the army. 

Fighting in France, among other soldiers from the four comers 
of the earth, were dark, wiry fighters from India. What told them of the 
war, and of the great need of their allegiance and support? Here, at 
least, is one poster which was used in India, an interesting piece of work, 
apparently cut on wood-blocks. At the top is the mark of the great Eng- 
lish raj, recognizable anywhere in the world, and below a boldly handled 
head of a typical Indian soldier. It is the writer^s conjecture that no 
standard form of lettering could be incorporated in the blodcs on account 
of the varied dialects and letter-forms in different parts of India. These 
were probably printed locally, so that the poster would be comprehensible 
equally in whatever part of India it might appear. 

Italy produced some splendid war posters, of which the Loan poster 
by Mauzan is probably the best, in either of the forms in which it was 
used. The illustration shows the soldier, about to go into action, pointing 
dramatically to the civilian who is looking at the poster, and bidding him 
take up the loan to his utmost. The head and pointing hand alone were 
made into a poster of colossal size, and widely distributed throughout 
Italy. 

A group of unusually interesting posters were made in behalf of 
Czechoslovakia, by two artists working in this country — ^V. Preissig and 
Fred Chapman, the latter an American artist of high distinction in the ad- 
vertising field. 



CANADIAN ANGLaiNDIAN 

RECRUITING POSTER RECRUITING POSTER 

An Anonymous Artist Cecil L. Burns 

AUSTRAUAN AND CANADIAN WORLD WAR POSTERS, 

Anonymous Artists 

2^7 



ITALIAN LOAN POSTER 

N. Mauzak 

269 



CZECHOSLOVAK RECRUITING POSTER 

V. Preissig and Fred Chapman 

27/ 



272 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

To arouse the Polish patriots in this country, three splendid re- 
cruiting posters were made by Wladislaw T. Benda, who also made 
charming posters for the Young fVomen^s Christian Association and the 
Red Cross. 

During the early part of the war, before the disorganization of 
Russia, a number of striking war posters were produced. One of these 
is illustrated, and it offers a marked contrast to the crude and violent pos- 
ters which have appeared from time to time since the Bolshevik dictator- 
ship supplanted the old regime. 

During the war, little evidence of poster-making came out of Ger- 
many, and there has been relatively little since. Posters there were, of 
course — but not only talent but the tools and materials needed to make 
posters were commandeered for other purposes. There were loans and 
war charities ; recruiting was handled without recourse to patriotic posters. 
The writer has it upon first hand information that nothing of any marked 
degree of merit appeared in Germany during the war, and that the only 
new idea in poster design took the form of graphic statistical charts, show- 
ing the shortages and needs in many essential products. If anything, the 
stress of war served chiefly to intensify and exaggerate that heavy quality, 
akin to brutality, that bids fair to characterize the German poster of post- 
war days. The war added no Inspirational quality, no note of nobility or 
spiritual uplift to the rendering of the German poster, and In many In- 
stances the poster was employed rather as a means of Inspiring hatred 
of England than patriotic fervor for the Fatherland. 

The newest poster work from Germany shows, too, a tendency 
toward the grotesque which Is unlikely to commend It In this country, where 
advertising has reached the status of a serious profession. 



Sladami Ojcow Naszych 

w Szeregach Armii Polskiej 

za Ojczyznf i Wolno^d 



POLISH RECRUITING POSTER 

Wladislaw T. Benda 

273 



RUSSIAN LOAN POSTER 

Anonymous Artist 

275 



2yd POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap.Vl 

The history of the poster In America's share of the war Is an In- 
spiring one, and a record of lasting credit to the extraordinary group of 
artists who enlisted their services. 

**In April, 19 17, when the call to arms was sounded from coast 
to coast, In place of Paul Revere to waken the sleeping countryside, there 
was chosen the poster — the only messenger which can go everywhere 
among us, and still remain everywhere with us.'' '*' 

At first, as was quite natural, there was great confusion In the 
matter of posters, and no direction or plan for their production. The in- 
evitable result was the appearance of many posters which could In no ar- 
tistic sense be preserved as a credit to our poster designing abilities. 

One great, dominating figure, Charles Dana Gibson, rose to the 
occasion, and, in April, 19 17, called together at a dinner the most promi- 
nent artists and illustrators available in and about New York City. With 
the warm assurance of their whole-hearted support, Mr. Gibson offered 
the services of the entire group to the Government at Washington, and the 
offer was accepted. 

This active and enthusiastic group, functioning under The Division 
of Public Information, became officially known as the Division of Pictorial 
Publicity, and unofficially as ^'Gibson's Committee." Unlike many com- 
mittees, the executives were all active, and all accepted their places with the 
firm Intention of working hard. The names must ever stand high In any 
record of American poster history: Charles Dana Gibson, Frank D. 
Casey, C. B. Falls, Henry Reuterdahl, Louis Fancher, C. D. Williams, 
R. J. Wildhack and F. G. Cooper. 

The specific manner In which the committee worked is as highly 
worthy of record as the names of the men who composed it. During the 

*C Matlack Price, in "Patriotic Posters," a Monograph issued by the National 
Committee of Patriotic Societies. 



BEANAMERICAHEAOLE' 

M«w.«u._i««w..;.M^.^.«ijiii.^v«. . OPEN TO FIGHTING MEN -(.l*" 



AMERICAN RECRUITING POSTERS 

C. B. Falls, Albert Sterner, Charles 

Livingston Bull and August Hutapf 

277 



278 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

entire period of this Country's participation in the war, the whole group, 
headed by the conunittee, met regularly once a week, first at Keene's Chop 
House, and, later, at the Salmagundi Club, with Mr. Gibson as chairman, 
or, on the rare occasions of his absence from town, with Mr. Cass Gilbert, 
the architect, as chairman. At each meeting Mr. Casey reported the 
requests for posters, cartoons or illustrations received from the Govern- 
ment, or from patriotic organizations throughout the country. Each re- 
quest was put in charge of a ^'Captain,'' whose duty it was to see that 
idea-sketches were received, on time, from such of the artists as were 
judged best fitted to carry out the work. These idea-sketches were then 
passed through the conmiittee headquarters to Washington, and, when 
approved, were promptly executed in finished paintings. The activity of 
the Division of Pictorial Publicity needs no proof beyond the figures of its 
output. Seven hundred posters were made to serve the publicity needs 
of fifty Government and civilian war needs. Of the hundred and eighty- 
seven artists actively enrolled under the Division, not all made posters: 
there were, for instance, thirty-three of the country's most prominent car- 
toonists. Thirty-seven artists and illustrators devoted their entire work 
to the Navy, and the following members were officially conmiissioned 
Captains and sent overseas to record, pictorially, the life and exploits of 
the American Expeditionary Forces: J. Andre Smith, Ernest Peixotto, 
Harry Townsend, Wallace Morgan, George Harding, W. I. Aylward, 
Harvey Dunn and W. I. Duncan. Henry Reuterdahl was accorded the 
rank of a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. In the complete list of 
the members of the Division could be read a roster of the greatest names 
in the field of illustration in this country, with not a few conspicuous 
painters interspersed among them. 

For this record of the vigorous work of the DiWsion of Pictorial 
Publicity, an apt conclusion is found in a quotation from the story of its 






" Lend Him a Hand " 

BUY 
LIBERTY BONDS 



AMERICAN LIBERTY LOAN POSTERS 

E. M. Ashe, Henry Raleigh, Walter 

Whitehead, and Charles Sarka 

279 



28o POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap.FI 



work, taken from the book which was distributed to the members and 
their guests at the "Victory Dinner/' given on February 14th, 19 19. 
"Being chosen to speaky through their work^ to the millions of their coun- 
trymen, the artists felt a great sense of responsibility, which bound them 
into a harmonious unit. All worked together in the conmion cause, sank 
personal considerations, gave and received advice. A fine spirit of help- 
fulness prevailed, which aimed at the goal of high excellence in all com- 
missions executed. 

"The steady appearance of the Division's work became a feature 
of the war, not only stirring patriotism, but awakening in the public 
mind the importance of the artist. It was a wholesale education to the 
country in that the Division made the bill-boards safe for art, the work 
standing out in sharp contrast to the commercial disfigurations of the past 

"For once the artist was permitted to work out his own ideas with 
unfettered imagination, and the unhampered results were so encouraging 
that it should have a permanent effect upon publishers and editors in their 
relations with artists in the future. 

"As specialists called in to assist the Government, the artists were 
not even ^doUar-a-year' men. Unlike those whose business can run profit- 
ably without them, they gave freely of their time and talent, their only 
reward being the privilege of service." 

Nor, in placing on record the services of this group of artists, 
should the publishers be overlooked in a record of patriotism in the field 
of art which concerns itself with publicity. Scores of magazines of the 
greatest national circulations gave their covers to patriotic publicity which 
incalculably supplemented the work which was being done by the nationally 
distributed posters. 

The illustrations in this chapter necessarily limited in number in 
comparison with the inunense output from which to select, have been 



BOY SCOUT LIBERTY LOAN POSTER 
J. C. Leyendecker 

281 



282 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

carefully chosen as representing as helpfully as possible the characteristic 
work of the more conspicuous artistSi as well as the varied purposes for 
which war posters were made. The following brief comments, therefore, 
cannot be taken as in any sense complete, but rather as supplementary text. 

The U. S. Marines were fortunate in having what virtually 
amounted to the undivided work of C. B. Falls. This artist, one of the 
most able poster technicians in this country to-day, coined a striking char- 
acterization of the poster which holds especially true for war posters: 
''A poster should be to the eye what a shouted conmiand is to the ear/' 
The ^'Books Wanted^* poster by Falls has been cited by many competent 
critics as the best poster of our entire war output, or, in fact, one of the 
best posters ever done in this country. It is, beyond question, a fine piece 
of work, and will live, as a poster, long after the period which inspired it. 

The poster for attracting recruits to the Tank Corps loses much 
in the absence of its lurid color scheme, but could lose nothing in its vigor- 
ous action or unescapable ''attention value." The belligerent black cat 
was the unofficial badge and emblem of the tank men, and "Treat 'em 
RougV their slogan— excellent material for a striking poster, and an op- 
portunity by no means missed by August Hutafif, who made this one. 

The special and long-recognized ability of Charles Livingston Bull 
as a bird and animal artist made him the logical choice for two fine posters 
in which the eagle dominates idea and design. In the example illustrated, 
"Join the Army Air Service,'* the American eagle is seen in mortal com- 
bat with the German eagle — an inspiring and easily-read poster allegory. 
In a poster for War Savings Stamps, a great American eagle, on a lofty 
nest, is hatching a brood of airplanes for the defence of its country. 

Albert Sterner, painter, lithographer and illustrator, made several 
vigorous and impressive though somewhat sombre posters, of which the 
Navy recruiting poster "Over There'* is splendidly typical. 



AMERICAN UBRARY ASSOCIATION POSTER 

C. B. Falls 

'S3 



284 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

On another page are grouped four Liberty Loan posters, of which 
Charles Sarka*s *%end Him a HamP' proved the most popular. It is an 
admirable poster because it conveys a definite message directly, simply 
and graphically. Its message, indeed, was considered so potent by the 
liberty Loan officiab that for some time it was used as virtually a "trade 
mark'' for the whole Liberty Loan campaign. 

In all of the four Loan posters in this group the soldier is por- 
trayed as the civilian's inspiration to subscribe. It is interesting to com- 
pare the difference in technique between the posters of Sarka, Morgan and 

Ashe, all three of whom are illustrators, and the one by Whitehead, who 
is primarily a poster designer. 

J. C. Leyendedcer reached an audience of over two million with 
a succession of brilliant and inspiring patriotic covers for the Saturday 
Evening Post, and made but few actual posters. One very fine example, 
however was The Boy ScoutJJherty Loan poster, in which the great Scout 
Association is seen graphically linked with the country's war need in a senu- 
allegorical group suggesting a motive for an inspiring statue. Its statu- 
esque quality, its lack of action, makes slightly against its purely poster 
quality, but its nobility of idea and its superb execution place it among the 
finest posters of the war. 

A group of four posters by F. G. Cooper demonstrate the tremen- 
dous effectiveness of vigorous lettering and of this type of poster (except- 
ing ^^Save a Loaf a Week**) with no pictorial element in its design. 
Cooper must be put on record as one of the greatest masters of lettering 
among contemporary poster designers, and these posters, printed in red 
and black, are among the most striking achievements of the artists of the 
Division of Pictorial Publicity. Incidentally, these posters also prove 
Cooper's contention that "lower case" (or small letters as distinguished 
from capital letters) is far easier to read than a legend composed entirely 



CONSERVATION POSTERS 

F. G. COOPEK 

28s 



286 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

of capitals. The truth of this rests upon fact and not upon theory. The 
vigor and character of the actual letter-forms themselves make up for the 
absence of the graphic, or pictorial element. 

Two poster designers and two illustrators are represented in a 
group of four more Food Administration posters. lUian's ''Keep It Com- 
ing^* illustrating a long convoy of motor trucks conveys graphically to the 
civilian mind the need of a continuous supply of food at the front. The 
suggestion of cold and discomfort added by the snow completes the whole 
powerful suggestion of the civilian's duty in personal sacrifice. 

The market basket, with a silhouette of a field battery in the back- 
ground, and the direct, simple injunction : ''Food is Ammunition/^ by John 
E. Sheridan, is a fine study in simplicity of idea, well-painted. 

The Wallace Morgan food conservation poster, "Feed a Fighter^' 
is a splendidly vigorous piece of work, in which illustration technique is 
raised to the fighting strength essential in a war poster. It is an excellent 
example of the kind of drawing which has so much inherent strength that 
color would add no great value to it. It is stronger, in fact, in the black 
and white in which it was printed. 

In the poster depicting the familiar type of restaurant gourmand, 
Crawford Young's "Sir/^ the art and power of direct and vigorous cari- 
cature is demonstrated as a highly effective means of achieving a success- 
ful poster. 

The Red Cross afforded to many artists their greatest poster in- 
spirations, and the artists' response to that organization's needs was both 
generous and effective. 

"The Greatest Mother in the World/* by A. E. Foringer, was gen- 
erally conceded to be the most popular and generally successful of all the 
Red Cross posters, and had a tremendous circulation. Its human appeal, 
with the added appeal of the phrase, probably outweighed its strictly 




nfrchlldreil 
behind our lines" 

Gm.jLinJAnAAy 



UNITED STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION POSTERS 

Crawford Young, John E. Sheridan, 

Wallace Morgan and George Illian 

287 



288 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

poster qualities in achieving the unprecedented acclaim that was accorded 
to it, and this acclaim was so great that, like Sarka's ''Lend Him a Hand'* 
figure in the liberty Loan poster, the Red Cross adopted ''The Greatest 
Mother*' as a ''trade mark" figure. The poster as printed was a mono- 
tone of soft brown, with the cross and the two horizontal bands in red. 

The quaint charm of the work of Jessie Wilcox Smith was not lost 
in her "Have You a Red Cross Service Flag " nor does it show any absence 
of poster value because of its characteristically delicate color scheme. 
The appeal of the child is universal — but there are only a few artists who 
are capable of drawing such appealing children as those of Miss Smith. 

In Harrison Fisher's Red Cross poster there is an interesting 
demonstration of the compelling power of a picture, without any worded 
appeal. What could words add ? At a glance we know that it is a Red 
Cross poster, and that an ideally beautiful Red Cross nurse, in service with 
the army, is asking for contributions to the fund. This poster, also, was ac- 
corded great popularity, and was of definite aid in the "drive" during which 
it appeared. Mr. Stanford Briggs said that "A picture is the shortest 
distance between an idea and a man's mind." Here, certainly, is a word- 
less poster which proves and illustrates this interesting statement. 

Albert Herter's Red Cross poster, ''In the Name of Mercy,'* 
affords another illustration of the inherent strength of a good drawing 
devoid of color. The cross on the nurse's sleeve is in red, the rest of the 
poster is in black and it is an admirably fine piece of work. 

In the summer of 19 17 the Emergency Fleet Corporation of the 
United States Shipping Board held a conq)etition for posters to recruit 
workers for the shipyards, and to keep up the fighting morale of the men 
already at work. The poster, "Smash the Hun*' by E. Hopper which 
won the first prize is a fine example of every poster essential. The color 
scheme is simple — a yellow sky, with blue silhouette of the shipyard and 



AMERICAN RED CROSS POSTERS 
A. E. FoRiNGER, Jessie Wilcox Smith, 
Harrison Fisher and Albert Herter 



290 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

a sinister touch of red on the threatening enemy bayonets. The figure is 
big, dominating, vigorous and full of action, the idea simple, graphic and 
symbolic, with a corresponding slogan of excellent comprehension value 
and memory value. An actual worker posed for the figure, and a 
thoroughly fine poster was produced. 

The War Savings Stamp poster, ^'Help Them/* was a prize winner 
in another patriotic poster competition, and is a good illustration of an 
*4dea poster." It brings graphically to the civilian a grasp of the definite 
relation of his investment in stan^)s to the actual war-needs of the men at 
the front. The war savings stamps in the foreground gradually merge 
into the belt of cartridges which is being consumed by an American ma- 
chine gun in action. 

The other two posters shown on the same page are strong examples 
of the poster technique of illustrators. The appeal to the foreign-bom 
citizen of America by W. L. Taylor's ** America Gave You,** is one of the 
finest black and white lithographs made in this country during the war, and 
George Wright's ship-building poster, *'Hip, Hip,** made through the Di- 
vision of Pictorial Publicity is full of action and patriotic stimulus. 

In addition to Gordon Grant's several Red Cross posters, one of 
which is shown on another page, the same artist made an extensive series 
of small two-color posters which were distributed throughout the army 
training camps after the signing of the armistice, intended to keep up the 
morale of the thousands who were awaiting their discharges from the ser- 
vice. Technically these *'morale posters" were excellent, but their appeal, 
in many instances was keyed a little too near the ideal of ''being good and 
nicely behaved boys" to command the full respect of the average soldier. 

In the W. T. Benda poster for the Young Women*s Christian 
Association, an appeal of the utmost charm, refinement and simplicity was 
achieved, few posters of the time winning such unanimous popularity. 



UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD, WAR SAVINGS STAMPS 

AND COMMITTEE ON PUBUC INFORMATION POSTERS 

E. Hopper, Casper Emerson, George 

Wright and F. Walter Taylor 

2gi 



2Q2 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 



One of the best of James Montgomery Flagg^s War posters, ^'Vive 
La Francif^ — for Bastile Day — ^was, from its nature, one of least used. 
It is admirable in its quick, vigorous execution, and in its graphic appeal 
for unity and the conunon cause among the allies. 

Edward Penfield, veteran among American poster artists, was not 
by any means absent from the roll-call when patriotic posters were needed. 
His most interesting posters were for the ^4and army," or war-gardening 
appeal — posters executed in his familiar manner, simple, direct, clean and 
large in effect. The best, probably, is the group of girls in the Y. W. C. A. 
**Girl on the Land/^ (a group by no means unbecomingly uniformed) with 
a fine swing of action and motion and two of Penfield^s inimitable farm 
horses. For the Food Administration, *'Save Wheaf* is another fine Pen- 
field poster of three French peasant women in brighdy colored costume, 
against a dark background, dragging a heavy harrow across a field. Pen- 
field also made an extensive series of war poster covers for ''Colliers,'' 
beginning in 19 14. 

H. Devitt Welsh, a member of the Division of Pictorial Publicity, 
is represented by an interesting poster rendering of old Independence 
Hall in Philadelphia, in a poster designed with a blank for the insertion 
of local dates and places where the ^^Four-Minute Men^* were to appear. 

Summarizing the output of posters in this country, it must be ad- 
mitted that notwithstanding the general high average of merit attained, 
when the last artist laid down his brush we were left with but few posters 
that are likely to be immortal. And psychologists wlVL say that, for the 
most part, the Spirit of America was missed. It is not an easy thing to 
do . . . but the Spirit of France is in Faivre's ''On les Aura!* 

If one were asked: "What did the whole output of posters tell 
us?'*, the answer might fairly be that it told us of a wealth of hitherto 
unexercised poster-making ability among our illustrators and artists. 



FOUR MINUTE MEN POSTER 

H. Devitt Welsh 

'93 



294 POSTERS AND THE WORLD WAR Chap. VI 

And even more strikingly, it told us once and for all time the in- 
calculable value of the poster as a publicity medium. At no time in the 
world's history were so many posters produced, at no time was the need 
for nation-wide publicity so vital, at no time had posters such a tremendous 
opportunity to prove their power in getting results. 

Taking the war posters of Europe and America together, certainly 
the war added a vivid and voluminous chapter to poster design, and one 
which, in view of all the circumstances of necessary haste and tempermental 
tension, will stand for all time as both esthetically and patriotically credit- 
able to the nations and their artists who made that great chapter. 



RED CROSS, YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 

BASTILLE DAY AND SCHOOL GARDEN ARMY POSTERS 

Gordon Grant, W. T. Benda, Edward Penfield 

and James Montgomery Flagg 

2»5 



Serves tlic Nation's Need 
apply Y."W.C.A. 



Lan<3 Service Committee. 



YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION AND UNITED 

STATES FOOD ADMINISTRATION POSTERS 

Edw^uu) Penfield 

291 



Chap.VII "POSTER VALUES" 299 



CHAPTER VII. 

Some Magazine Covers. 

With regard to our sanction to consider certain cover-designs re- 
cently appearing on our magazines, one has made the observation that since 
many of them present covers of considerable superficial area, and since 
these are hung conspicuously on news-stands with a view of attracting 
attention, they differ in no essential features from posters proper, and may 
consistently come under discussion as such. 

It must not be supposed, however, that the purpose of this chapter is 
to state, or even imply, that a magazine cover should necessarily be a pos- 
ter — it is rather to suggest that where such an intention has existed on the 
part of the editors, that the cover be a good poster and present as many 
poster values as possible. 

It was stated and reiterated earlier that actual size in a poster 
design is its least important element, and that its most important element is 
a suggestive proportion which will admit of reduction to the size of a 
postage stamp, or enlargement to the most expansive fence-placard known 
to bill-posters, with no loss of poster value. This is really the simplest 
and most readily applied of all tests, and the examples of magazine covers 
in this chapter may serve to illustrate graphically exactly how much a design 
of actually small dimensions may partake of all the essentials of a poster 
of any size whatever. For again let it be said that the amount of space 
occupied by a poster is the most superficial thing about it, and has no bear- 
ing whatever upon the stupidity or cleverness of the actual design itself. 

Further, in this magazine field, so much excellent and unfortunately 



300 COVERS BY PENFIELD Chap. VII 



transient work has appeared, illustrating many of the most interesting 
moods of our cleverest designers, that a lasting record of their more suc- 
cessful efforts should have some value of its own. The limitations of this 
chapter, however, dealing as it does exclusively with the poster-values of 
certain cover-designs, must perforce exclude many examples which possess 
no qualifications other than an intrinsic interest in their subject. 

In Mr. Penfield's cover for "Colliet^s fVeekly," January, 1903, all 
poster essentials are evident in an extremely striking array. It presents a 
design of simplicity and strength in idea, composition, line, and color, with 
lettering of supremely adequate scale and as original, characteristic and 
informal as it is legible. This cover, indeed, is among Mr. Penfield's 
happiest achievements in this miniature poster-field. It is to be remarked 
that the observations of his rendering of automobiles in general are admir- 
ably illustrated in this particular example. 

The ^'Collie/s" cover of the girl walking with a Russian wolf- 
hound hardly requires comment regarding its obviously excellent poster 
values. It is interesting to remark, however, that it illustrates Mr. Pen- 
field's first change of technique— of which the red-coated equestrienne of 
^'The Saturday Evening Post" is an example as well, the motor cover sug- 
gesting rather his much earlier work. Nor should the types of these three 
girls be passed without remark, for they possess that distinctive personal- 
ity of all Mr. Penfield's poster-people. One drives her own motor-car, and 
condescends to pose for us, to our lasting delight; another smartly tailored, 
briskly keeps pace with her dog, for both are thorough-breds, while the 
third woxild seem to be her own M.F.H., capably mustering her hounds to 
the meet — ^yet all three are compellingly feminine, and, one likes to fancy, 
thoroughly American. 

In the Windmill cover (J* C oilier^ s") is presented at once a strong 



COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER, January 17, 1903 

Courtesy of and Copyrighted by EdWARD PeNPIELD 

Collier's Weekly 

30t 



's 



r'^'^^L.^ir' COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

CopynghUd by xt l ,- 

CoUitt's Wttkly November lo, 1906 

Edward Penpield 
303 



THE SMTUmyjlY 
EVENING POST 

An llluatrkt«a IWcakly Ma£««in* 



Cmus, nf tHd SATURDAY EVENING POST COVERS 

TlSfX&iul^ ComH^ October 31, 1903 

Edward Penfield 
30s 



c«.rt,t, ./ «^ COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

?-°t?^'",'J *?, March 13, 1901 

Edward Penfieid 
307 



308 COVERS BY PENFIELD Chap.VII 



poster with vigorous letters, and a shorthand architectural study as broad 
and as clean in detail as it is solid and convincing in execution. Nor does the 
touch of the "personal equation" in the merry little group of figures detract 
from the directness of the motive, but cleverly serves rather, the purpose 
of giving at sight an unconscious yet correct sense-impression of the actual 
size of the mill, which in turn, suggests that highly desirable element — that 
sense of a presentation of an idea larger than the confines of the sheet. 
The design illustrates interestingly the technique developed in the third 
period of Mr. Penfield's work — the style of the "Holland Sketches", while 
the Spanish Horseman {Collier^ s)^ is no less characteristic of his last type 
of work in Spain. 

The features of this last type, as carried out in this example, are a 
more complex presentation of color — considerable range of subtle- tones 
and general warmth throughout — and a general precision of carefully 
studied detail, neither, however, in any degree destroying the breadth of 
conception or the strong poster value of the whole. In this drawing the 
expanse of flat plain is admirably suggested, at the first glance, by the low 
sky-line. 

It is a long call from the plains of Andalusia to Fifth Avenue, in 
front of the Holland House. The '^ Metropolitan'' cover, nevertheless, 
rings as true as the other, for the waiting coach, and the three truly typical 
Graces of Manhattan, briskly walking up-town, strike a note at once sin- 
cere and accurate. The spirit of the thing as a whole is there, and as 
usual, the types are the same frank, unaffected representations of the best 
that is in America. It is interesting from the poster standpoint as being 
a clear, simple rendering of a rather elaborate subject. It is a translation 
in a poster-medium of what might have been too elaborate had it been 
done by another than Mr. Penfield. The coach is the accessory designed 
to give the sense-impression of the particular street — and if it seems to 



COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

July II, 1908 

Edward Penfield 

309 



CcMri<syof o«d COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

CoPynghUd by 

CoUiir's Weekly January ll, 1908 

Edward Penfielo 
5" 



DPaiTAN 

^GAZINE 

June 1909 Prioel5 cents 



c«rt*J3r*/««i METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE COVER 

Copyriakitd In/ Tone, 1000 

Edward Penfield 
3'3 



METKOPOIITAN 

MACAZI N E 



THE METBOFOLITAN MAGAZINE CO 



c..n.fl../oi«( METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE COVER 

Copynghled by •, • 

TA* Metropolilati Magasint July. ^905 

Edward Penfield 
3^5 



3i6 MOORE AND GOULD Chap.VII 

confuse the figures a bit, it is equally apparent upon more careful consider- 
ation, that it is not really a background, but an essential part of the main 
group. It is a picture in strong "poster style," with lettering adequate in 
relative scale, and pleasingly disposed 

Of the same order is the cover which makes one feel instinctively 
the idea of driving from a railroad station out to a country-house, through 
smiling fields and under summer skies — a group of sense-impressions result- 
ing from the absolute frankness, informality and salient sincerity of both 
the subject and its presentation. It is graphic, and beneath its apparent 
simplicity, full of that subtle charm so characteristic of all Mr. Penfield's 
work. 

For some years one closely associated the styles of Guernsey 
Moore and J. J. Gould, an admirable example of the latter's work 
being a cover for "The Saturday Evening Post/' featuring the first 
of two papers on contemporary Russian statesmen. It is hard to find 
words adequate to do justice to this drawing. To merely state that it 
possesses "poster-value" is absurd — ^to say that it is "clever" is futile. It 
is tremendous, it is colossal, it is sublime. It is so powerful, so full of inher- 
ent, potential strength, both in subject and treatment, that it could success- 
fully ignore one of the basic coefficients of a poster — it could be a strong 
poster without a single line of lettering. This may seem an extraordinary 
statement, but even a cursory glance at the illustration will cause that sheer 
strength, aided by unbalanced composition, bold line, simple coloring and 
gigantic suggested proportion to take instant effect, and to create a mental 
shock that cannot be forgotten. Perhaps the thing is unique. Certainly it 
is hard to recall a mere drawing, purporting to be a poster, which possesses 
to so great degree such irresistible qualities of enormous power. 

While this cover was the actual work of Mr. Gould, in the matter 



THE- MILLIONAIRES— Br Dftvid Crahani Phillip 

THE SATUl^Ay 
EVENING TO^T 

HAn Ulustro^tcd We«kly Magnsine 
Foundad A' D' 1728 by Benj.Fr&nklin 

JULY 26. I908 FIVE CENTS THE cdPY 



Coi^tuyofa«d SATURDAY EVENING POST COVER 

ThTcurtis PublUkmg Company July 26. I90* 

J. J. Gould and Guernsey Moore 

3^7 



3l8 MOORE, THE LEYENDECKERS Chap. VII 

of its execution, the design was the work of Guernsey Moore. These two 
designers, both Philadelphians, worked together for some time under the 
name of 'Teter Fountain," a fictitious personage who aroused attention 
by reason of the very interesting quality of his work, which appeared on 
the covers of ''The Saturday Evening Post," and by his disappearance 
from the field in a mysterious manner, no less sudden or unheralded than 
his debut. While much work was done jointly by Messrs. Gould and 
Moore, much was presented either anonymously or with a combined mono- 
gram of "J. J. G.," and "G. M." An example of Mr. Moore's quaint 
humor appeared in the rather cryptic ''signatures" of a cover-design for 
"The Saturday Evening Post" some years ago. The design was in the 
nature of a very quiet parody of some of Mr. Parrish's work, and showed 
a figure in the familiar pointed cap, with its long feather, and wearing 
tabard, jerkin, and long, soft shoes. In the background were impossible 
castles and castlettes, precariously perched on isolated pinnacles of rock, 
which broke out here and there with unlikely trees. And woven into the 
decorative border of a pouch carried by the figure, were the various initials 
"A. D.," "H. P.," "M. P.," and "G. M.," indicating that tiie credit of tiie 
whole might be severally divided amongst Albrccht Durcr, Howard Pyle, 
Maxfield Parrish, and Guernsey Moore ! 

Mr. Moore's revival of Colonial costumes and details is admir- 
ably shown in his quaint and freely colored sedan-chair cover-design for 
^^CoUier^s/' handled in distincdy a poster style, which shows the poster 
possibilities of the magazine cover. 

The cover by F. X. Leyendcckcr — a modiste^s assistant momen- 
tarily posing in a customer's hat — presents a charm of subject and a dean 
delicacy of rendering that are exquisite. The various textures involved 
are admirably translated, and cleverness speaks from every line of the 
draughtsmanship. 



Colli 



lers 



C'^.^lif ™j COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

Um^^WtM, January 1 6, 1909 

Guernsey Moore 
3'9 



320 THE LEYENDECKERS Chap.VII 

J. C. Leyendecker*8 covers have continued to enliven the Saturday 
Evening Post on all such occasions as Christmas, New Year's, Independ- 
ence Day, Thanksgiving and the like, and seem, if anything, to increase in 
brilliancy and sureness. Few artists so ably understand both the limita- 
tions and the possibilities of painting for two-color process reproduction 
in red and black. 

The most noteworthy F. X. Leyendecker covers since the old days 
of "Collier's" have been several beautifully done for '^Fanity Fair/' based 
on the ever-intriguing adventures of Pierrot, Harlequin and Columbine. 
The finesse of execution characteristic of the work of "F. X." is exemplified 
in the illustration. 

It is interesting to study the very early work of J. C. Leyendecker 
as a student in Paris — ^as far back as 1897. This work was in strong 
poster style, with less of the illustrative element of his present drawings. 
There are suggestions of Steinlen, and much of the feeling of other con- 
temporary French designers in these old sketches, and Mr. Leyendecker's 
absolute freedom from any precedent to-day shows that sincere and vigor- 
ous originality of technique will assert itself over any amount of collateral 
study or influences of student days. 

Perhaps the nearest approach to these '^Inland Printer^' cover 
designs in the present work of J. C. Leyendecker, is to be found in his ex- 
tremely clever sketch for the '^Bohemian Number^' of ''Judge'* There 
is a care-free element in it — an abandon suggesting Cheret. It is emi- 
nently appropriate both in detail and in treatment, for there can be no ques- 
tion either as to the "Bohemian" qualities of the figures or the uncon- 
strained technique of their delineation. Perhaps it is not going too far to 
say that in no poster ever designed in this country has there appeared so 
much of the Continental European spirit of vivacious spontaneity, so much 
of the gaiety of the French. On the actual drawing it is unnecessary 



M^CLUR-E'S 



Co-rM, of <nl McCLURE'S MAGAZINE COVER 

^J&'fJl^^ May, 19.0 

F. X Leyendecker 
321 



c..rt,n, of w VANITY FAIR COVER 

f5?7.^,"2i, /.,*&»»» c..,;... J»""»fy. '917 

F. X. Leyendecker 
3'3 



THE SXTVUpjiY 
EVENING POST 



CoMTttsy of aiMf copyrigkui 6y COVERS IN 1897 AND 191O 

CKER 

3'5 



■n, Inlml PraM, Rogtr, * WtlU T Q LeYENDECKER 

and Till CMTtit Fitblithing Comfanf 



Cc.rt,n 0/ ond COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

Copyngkitd by ^ , 

CMIn't W„Uy January 20, 1906 

J. C. Leyendecker 
3'7 



c™r.„,./.»i JUDGE COVER 

J. C. Lbyenbecker 

329 



330 MAXFIELD PARRISH Chap. VII 

to comment. There Is a presentation of a peculiarly difficult action — ^not 
of suspended motion, but of continued motion. It is a snap-shot on canvas. 

The three examples of Mr. Parrish^s cover designs are at once inter- 
esting and characteristic, showing as they do his masterful studies of 
shadow, and his never-disappointing quaintness of underlying conception. 
The colors are strong and well-disposed and possess that rare value of com- 
bined power and delicacy. The masses are flat, and the shadows cleanly 
applied, while the lettering is admirably adequate and very skillfully incor- 
porated with the figure. In the case of a legend less familiar to the public 
than '^Collier^s, The National fFeekly/' one would seriously question the 
license to obliterate so much of it by the super-position of the figures, but 
where the text is so well known, one is glad to exchange legibility for 
interesting incorporation. 

In the delightfully quaint figure of the book-lover perched upon the 
high stool, one finds Mr. Parrish in his happiest vein. The subject, sug- 
gesting no particular period or nationality in the matter of dress is thor- 
oughly and entirely peculiar to Mr. Parrish's own imagination, and in point 
of clever technique illustrates how the careful study of accurate foreshort- 
ening in the pattern on a piece of cloth may entirely do away with the 
necessity of actual shades and shadows. The folds here are certainly ade- 
quately presented, and the design as a whole is an almost unique example 
of a successful combination of two qualities generally of mutual detraction 
—qualities of decorative value and of general breadth. The design is 
strong and simple, but suggests more than its actual two printings by reason 
of the texture presented in the gown and the clever manipulation of the red 
background. 

Upon an analysis of this cover design, it would seem that Mr. 
Parrish has obtained the greatest range in color that is possible in two flat 



a^v •/ -^ ctrishfi ir COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

9lo) 

33' 



?*'■'*'"'* "•:' Maxfield Pa»RB« ( 1910) 



*» 



s 

HB ER. 

July 



est 
irried 

ILBERT 
RKER. 

t 

Idha's 
Eye 



i on 
kVaters 



?T? 'ili '^»'***' * COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

tMp hMUUi C«»^ J»"« "'. '909 

Maxfield Parrish 
333 



Colliers 

THE NATIONAL WEEKLY 



I INDEPENDENCE NVMBER 



cmni >f-nd c«r,>iw I, COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

'i,'"r''plr'/' "r MAXFIELD PaRWSK 

Dodge Pi^lishiHg Lompan 

335 



336 WILDHACK Chap.VII 

printings. There are the plain red and black masses, with a gray half-tone 
obtained by the fine stippled work. This effects an impression of three dis- 
tinct values, with a fourth chromatic element cleverly brought out by con- 
trast — ^an element too often ignored, for we rarely think of the importance 
of white as a color. 

Robert J. Wildhack, even in more pretentious works, has rarely 
exhibited an example of greater general charm of idea and treatment, or 
greater excellence from the standpoint of poster-values than in his ''Snow- 
Girl** cover for ''CoUier^s/' The lettering is no less legible in its presen- 
tation than the figure or than the whole idea to be expressed. The coloring 
is simple but suggestive of considerable range, and at the same time is 
unquestionably appropriate. The sky is a winter sky, the snow is the clean, 
unspotted expanse of the country. In small points of reality — those points 
so important in the "story** told by a poster, but so often overlooked by the 
designers — ^this example is admirable. The finesse of detail, subtle but 
legible that expresses hest in the ^'September Scrihnet^s'^ poster is no less 
cleverly applied here to express cold — and snow. The girl*s face has the 
warmth of color resulting from frosty air, she is as appropriately dressed 
for her environment as the girl on the beach— quite as informally and as 
much in style. Where one is all in white, even to pumps and stockings, and 
carries a white parasol in September, the other wears heavy storm-boots, 
short skirt and white knitted coat in December. And it is eminently accur- 
ate and convincing to state — as Mr. Wildhack has stated it in this drawing 
— ^that when snow is of proper consistency to make snow-balls, it is also 
in a condition to stick in the soles of one*s shoes. 



The cover design for "Colliet^s** — a Spanish Dancer — by 
Adolph Treidler, is one of his happiest drawings, and possesses many 



T O t? XT * ^^^ iXT A 



9 



ers 



THR N* 



iNAT. WF.F.KT.Y 









Courtesy of and 
Copyrighted by 
CoUUpt Weekly 



COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

December 17^ 19 10 
Robert J. Wildhack 

337 



338 THE NAST GROUP Chap. VII 

points of interest and excellence which are obvious upon the most casual 
glance, and which stand the test of a closer study and analysis. It is work 
of this kind that seems of an excellence out of all proportion to its transient 
function, appearing, as it does, only for one week. Such a sketch as this 
has poster value so far above most current work that it must not be dis- 
missed after its week upon the news-stands. 

The Conde Nast trio of magazines, "Vogue," "Vanity Fair" and 
"House & Garden," under the brilliant art directorship of Heyworth 
Campbell, present the most interesting group of covers in America. One 
of the first and most prominent names in this group is that of Helen 

* 

Dryden, who was one of the first American artists to develop a style 
which is as clever as modem French work, yet attuned to the tastes and 
appreciations of this country. It is fair enough to say that she set a style 
(certainly it has had an army of followers) and popularized a type of 
charming yet sophisticated art which has widely influenced advertising as 
well as cover work. She epitomized "smartness," and gave it a form and 
a place in the informal art of this country. 

"House and Garden" covers do not attempt the "smartness" of 
"Vogue," but always achieve an interesting and refreshing quality of 
modernism, expressed by different artists. The ''House and Garden'* 
cover shown is by Charles Livingston Bull, better known for his splendid 
bird and animal drawings. 

''Vanity Fair'' covers are of astonishing variety, and intended to 
come each month in the way of a surprise. There have been F. X. Leyen- 
decker covers, and others by "Fish," the famous English girl, Helen Dry- 
den, Everett Shinn, G. Wolfe Plank (who has also done a number of 
beautiful "Vogue" Covers), John Held, Thelma Cudlipp and others. 
Some of these covers possess striking poster values, while others are more 
distinctly cover drawings— especially those of Plank. 



CriTO 'f ««( COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

"c&wX March 25, 19" 

Adolph Treidler 

339 



Courtesy of and 
Copyrighted by 
Condi Nasi » Co., I 



HOUSE fit GARDEN COVER 

February, 191 8 

Charles Livingston Bull 

341 



Courttsy of and VOGUE COVER 

Copyngkted by i-v . • 

Tht Vogut Compmy October I8t, 1914 

Helen Dryden 
343 



344 SOME WOMEN DESIGNERS Chap. VII 



Not long after the rise of Helen Dryden to magazine cover prom- 
inence came Neysa McMein, whose work, entirely different in character, 
has attained the widest popularity. A long series of covers for **Mc- 
Clure's" magazine, and a great many for "The Woman's Home Com- 
panion" and "The Saturday Evening Post" have lifted the old critical 
stigma from the "pretty girl" cover, which was in danger of losing its 
popularity because generally so poorly done. By remarkable ability as 
a pastellist, and through the important detail of real taste and discrimina- 
tion in the matter of models, hats and gowns, Miss McMein has put ex- 
ceptional values into her covers which give them more than the passing 
popularity of a fad. They are really worth while, and really beautify 
the magazines on which they appear. 

At this point mention should be made of Anita Parkhurst, also a 
brilliant pastellist, Ruth Eastman, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Sarah Stilwell 
Weber and Ludle Patterson Marsh, all of whom have attained high dis- 
tinction in the magazine cover field. Ruth Eastman's work, perhaps, ex- 
cels in poster values, because it possesses breadth and color. Her series 
for ''Motor^* has included some of the best poster covers seen on the news- 
stands for several years. 

Two interesting covers, each characteristic of its artist, are seen 
in the ^'Saturday Evening Post" cover by John E. Sheridan, and the 
"Everybody's'^ cover by C. B. Falls. Of the two, the Falls cover is ob- 
viously the better poster — it is, in fact, a splendid poster, and typical of 
much of Falls' work during the war. If the demands of advertising work 
allowed them more time, no doubt we would see more covers by both 
Sheridan and F. Nelson Abbot. 

The ''Colliers" cover, showing the tense figure of a French soldier 
behind a machine gun, with a lurid sunset in the background, is a char- 
acteristic example of the technique of Herbert Paus, who has come strongly 



Conrttsy of and McCLURE'S MAGAZINE COVER 

CoPyngktta by t i 

Tkt McClurt PublktUiont July, 19^9 

Neysa McMein 
345 



346 MAGAZINE COVERS Chap.VII 

into poster prominence in recent years. The quality of his line is very 
interesting, and his color strong and unusual and well arranged. During 
the early part of the war ^'Colliers" brought out a sequence of splendid 
poster covers by Penfield» Fancher, Paus and Treidler — some of the 
best poster covers ever seen on American magazines. 

A lengthy and interesting list mig^t be presented, if one had space 
to include it in this chapter, naming the artists who have made striking 
and popular magazine covers possessing more or less poster value. 

^'The Saturday Evening Post/' notwithstanding its limitation to 
two-color printing, continues to bring out eflfective covers, and calls upon 
the most brilliant illustrators to produce its annual quota of fifty-two. 
Among these are Neysa McMein, J. C. Leyendecker, C. Coles Phillips, 
Cushman Parker, Anita Parkhurst and Sarah Sdllwell Weber. 

Orson Lowell frequently gives the cover of "Judge'' a brilliantly 
executed painting, and ''Life" now and then runs a cover by Maxfield 
Parrish. 

The field is one of exceptional interest, and the magazine cover 
seems to secure, in most cases, the most spontaneous and interesting work 
of our ablest illustrators and painters. And since most of these are also 
working on posters and advertising illustrations, the news-stands should 
be carefully followed by all who are interested in poster art in this country. 

Bearing in mind that these magazine covers were selected for the 
poster-points of simplicity of idea, line and color, unbalanced composition, 
breadth of mass, general adequacy in scale (if not in actual incorporation) 
of lettering and figure, as well as general appropriateness and suggestive 
qualities, their claims to consideration as posters, quite apart from their 
intrinsic interest, may perhaps have been made manifest. 



c™«,„,./o«< MOTOR COVER 

Copyrighted (i9'9) by May, 1919 

Company (Motor MagoMine) RUTH EASTMAN 

347 



WHE SJiTUl(pjlY 



Courtttv of and 
Copyrighttd by 
The Curtis Publishing Company 



SATURDAY EVENING POST COVEP 

January 5th, 1918 

John E. Sheridan 

349 



Courlety of and 
Copyriipited by 
The Ridffway Comftmy 



EVERYBODY'S MAGAZINE COVER 

January, 1918 

C. B. Falls 

35t 



COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

January 22, 1916 

Herbert Paus 

353 



^ 



C.»).«j_rf™j COLLIER'S WEEKLY COVER 

Cote We^h October 31, 1903 

Frederick Dorr Steele 
355 



Chap.VIII CERTAIN ANALOGIES 357 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Capacity of the Poster. 

Up to this point one has hesitated to confuse the principles, more 
or less technical, which should govern the delineation of the poster, with 
certain subtler, though no less interesting theories regarding its capacity 
for expression. 

It can by no means be said that an elaborate idea is in any way 
essential to the conception of a good poster. This chapter is intended 
merely to pursue a poster-analysis to a finer conclusion, with a view to 
determining how much may be expressed, and in how elaborate a manner 
such an expression may be presented in a strong poster. 

In the first chapter a rather careful analysis was made of Mr. 
Wildhack's ^'September^' poster; from which it was to be deduced that 
inasmuch as September is a hot month, suggestions of heat should appear 
in such a design, as well as that certain other ideas, not so rudimentary, 
might be brought forth in the whole. 

To fully determine the capacity of the poster, a minute analysis of 
three examples will be undertaken, after an exposition of some general con- 
siderations which should govern such an analysis. 

In the first place it seems obvious and appropriate to state an anal- 
ogy between the details shown in a poster, and a stage-setting. The two 
are designed for the same audience. It is as necessary for the one as for 
the other to achieve its success through the power of suggestion. The 
figures in a poster are the actors; and the accessories, the '^properties,'' 



3SS THE CAPACITY OF THE POSTER Chap. Fill 

however subordinate, must be appropriate, and create that same artificial 
yet sincere simulation of a potential reality that makes the stage a vital 
factor in our interests. Given the characters, the mise en scene must be so 
studied as to give the intended impression, or setting, the most forcibly to 
the greatest number of people. 

The audience of the poster is no more an invited clique of favored 
cognoscenti than is the audience of the play. The idea to be suggested must 
be made readable, or fail utterly. It is true that some of the finer points 
may be overlooked by those not attuned for their proper comprehension, 
but it is the average intellect which is to be considered in the matter— not 
that of the ilUterati or the connoisseurs. 

Granted, then, that poster-craft has much to liken it to stage-craft, 
the following quotations from an essay on the latter by Mr. Haldane Mac 
Fall may well preface the poster-analysis hereafter : 

*^Art is Suggestion. A scene may be an absolutely true transcript 
of the real place, but it may be utterly lacking in the power to suggest that 
atmosphere and mysterious essence which we call the mood of the place. 

• It is through a man's imagination that he reaches the Realities. 
You shall not increase the suggestion of great cold in a scene on the heights 
of Olympus by putting foot-warmers in the hands of the gods.'' 

By the same token, it is through the imaginative omissions in a 
poster that those all-important potential realities must be brought out. 
Public appreciation has never been gained by insulting public intelligence, 
however blind that intelligence may often seem to be. 

In Mr. Penfield's poster for the "Great^Arrow'^ motor car, is pre- 
sented an extraordinary example of suggestive ''stage setting" in a poster. 
The light — intangible, indefinable, but all-pervasive of the million lights of 
Times Square is over the whole. A crush of hurried after-theatre street 



THE GREAT ARROW 
Edward Penfield (1907) 



3(>0 LOCAL COLOR Chap. Fill 

traffic is suggested (not shown), by the one motor car and two hansom 
cabs. The pressing crowd, pouring out of the lighted theatre is adequately 
expressed by no more than four figures actually shown, and indistinct im- 
pressions of a few others. Yet there is the whole atmosphere of the place 
and the hour and the people — the accessories are consiunmately handled 
to bring to one's mind in the simplest terms a picture of a scene which 
would be only a confused medley in literal delineation. 

Now with all these elements of a very detailed ''local color," it 
must be realized that strong as they are, they do not infringe upon the 
strength of the advertisement — the clear, simple, and forceful impression 
of a motor-car de luxe. One has the detail; by its aptness the subject of 
the poster has been the more directly ''brought home," yet the impression 
of this detail, however interesting in itself, has been in no way detrimental 
to the real simplicity of the whole poster. 

And suppose that by reason of never having seen the actual place, 
or a similar place, the host of mental suggestions fall on sterile ground — 
suppose that all the fine points miss fire, yet one still has the clear, simple, 
and forceful impression of a motor-car de luxe, with its name in bold pro- 
portions, and its lines in bold brush-strokes. As a whole, it is admirably 
illustrative of the poster as a vehicle for the expression of theatrical values. 

Lucien Mctivct's poster for ^'Eugenie Bufet/* presents, at the 
first glance, the figure of a girl, singing in the street. If you see no more, 
the poster has nevertheless succeeded as a poster. It has shown that the 
idea to be presented is that of a girl, singing in the street. Eugenie Buf- 
fet's repertoire at the time was a collection of songs of the grisette — ^the 
working girl of Paris. 

Further suggestions are so successfully subordinated that this main 
impression is as clear as though there were nothing more on the sheet. 



EUGENIE 
BUFFET 

LUCIEN 

M^TIVET 

(1893) 

3O' 



362 THE CAPACITY OF THE POSTER Chap. VIII 

No harm has been done by the obtrusion of puzzling accessories to destroy 
the simplicity of the whole. What has been overlooked is the loss of the 
careless one — it is not to his detriment, or to the detriment of the poster. 

But perhaps there is more to be seen than the mere figure of a girl, 
singing in the street. In her face is written all the misery, the irrepressible 
gaiety of spirit, the oppression and yet the innate freedom of her class. 
Her drawn face is oppressed, but the toss of her head is free. It is not 
the portrait of an individual but of a class. 

And of the finer expression of the idea to be suggested, much would 
be lost without an appropriate setting. She must be in the street, at such 
times as she is not at work. The day is done, the shops are closed. She 
has worked all day, but now she is free, and is singing. There are other 
figures, figures of the streets of Paris, and there is a sky-line of houses, 
all the stage-settings. But in the center of the stage, oblivious to all else, 
and eclipsed by nothing is the grisette — a girl, singing in the street. 

This quality — this simple expression, the atmosphere of the story to 
be told — appears in Steinlen's poster book-cover, for an edition of Aristide 
Bruant's popular songs — ''Dans la Rue." Here the idea of the street has 
been seized and portrayed in a manner at once remarkably realistic and 
thoroughly characteristic of Steinlen. There is emphasized the fact that 
the songs and monologues are of the street, essentially and entirely. The 
figures are plainly those of working people as in ''Eugenie Bufet" coming 
home in the dusk. There can be no doubt about it. The group in the fore- 
ground is absolutely simple and sincere in its treatment, and tells its story 
with no confusion or indirectness. Further back, less distinct, another line 
of returning workers, men, and women, are tramping home all singing 
in the street. And still further, against the sky-line, rises the quaint, 
tumbled line of buildings; and to give the flavor of the particular 



DANS LA RUE 
Th£ophile-Alexandre Steinlen 

313 



f 



364 IN CONCLUSION Chap. VIII 

locality to those who know Paris as Steinlen knew it, the sails of the Red 
Mill stand out against the lighter darkness behind them."^ 

But it cannot be objected that the introduction of these subtle 
accessories has in any way impaired the strength of the composition, or 
the directness of the story. To the casual observer, it is a poster design 
of some people, presumably Frendi, even presumably Parisian, singing in 
the street To one who knows Paris, it is all this, and is besides, Paris 
itself with all the host of intimate local recollections that are to be found in 
a poster whidi is at once a poster and a dramatic document. 

An epigranmiatist has said that diampagne is like criticism, in that 
if good it is excellent; if it is poor, no commodity could be more utterly 
wretched One could say the same of a poster. A play, a statue, a book, 
a picture will all have a redeeming value in some inconsidered particular 
even if they fail of their main purpose. When a poster fails, its failure is 
utter and irretrievable, and its inevitable destiny is its consignment to the 
limbo of waste paper. 

*The same exoression of dramatic and literary values may be observed by those 
who are fortunate enough to possess a copy of the ''Chansons de Momartre," a music- 
cover by the same designer. 



*Jt. 



Index 



3(>5 



INDEX 

The names of artists are given in large and small capitals; 

POSTER titles IN ITALICS 



Abbott, F. Nelson, 199, 200, 344 

Alcazar d'EU, 20 

Aloin, Cbcil» 70, 86 

Alt Ebn Becor, 181 

AHce, 179 

America Gave You, 290, 291 

America's Tribute to Britain, 185 

American Library Association Poster, 192, 

197, 200, 282, 283 
American Line, 96^ 105 
American Posters, 10-14, 129-252, 260, 265, 

276-360 
Anglo-Indian RecrmHng Poster, 266, 267 
Anonymous, 111, 257, 259, 267 
Aristide Bruant, 48, 362 
Arrow Collar, 164, 171 
AsHB, £. M^ 279, 284 

Bakst, LAon, 122, 124, 125 

Basch, Arpad, 122 

Bastile Day Poster, 292, 295 

Bbale, C C, 200, 201, 204 

Bbasdslby, Aubrey, 60-65, 94, 138, 140 

Becket, 73 

Bbggarstapf Brothers, 70, 71, 73, 86 

Belgian Canal Boat Fund, 260, 263 

Belgian Posters, 96, 105, 107, 252 

Bell, R. Anning, 62, 67, 70 

Benda, Wladislaw T., 272, 273, 290, 295 

Benderly, M., 120 

Benois, Alexandre, 124 

Bemer Oberland Wintersport, 121 

Bianchi Automobile, 111 

Bibliography of War Posters, 252 

Bnu), E. B^ 138, 140 

Bodley Head, 63 

Boll's Kinder gar derobe, 94, 101 

Bonnaro, Pierre, 33, 48, 53 

Book of Book-Plates, 70, 75 

Book Plate, 214, 220 

Books Wanted, 192, 197, 282, 283 

Bosch Magneto, 94, 95 



Boy Scout Liberty Loan Poster, 281, 284 

Boys! Remember Nurse Cavell, 264, 267 

Bradley, Wnx, 130-138, 140 

Bragdon, Claude Fayette, 138 

Brangwyn, Frank, 72, 86, 260, 264, 265 

Brehm, George, 140, 164, 171 

Bring Him Home, 264, 267 

Britain's Call to Arms, 264 

Britishers! Enlist To-day, 260, 261 

Brown, F. Gregory, 87, 93 

Browne, Tom, 70, 86 

Bryce, Helen Byrne, 93 

Bubbles, 60 

Bull, Charles Livingston, 277, 282, 338, 

341 
Burns, Cecil L^ 266, 267 
Buttes Chaumont, 20 

Caldanzano, L., 110 

Cambbllotti, D^ 110 

Campbell, Blendon, 142, 191 

Cappiello, L., 120 

Carqueville, W., 138, 140 

Casas, Ramon, 120 

Casey, Frank D., 276, 278 

Cassiers, H^ 96, 105, 107 

Century Magazine Posters, 143^ 146, 147, 153 

Chalmers Motor Car, 208, 209 

Chansons de Momartre, 364 

Chap Book, 133, 136, 140, 141 

Chapman, Fred, 266, 271 

ChAVANNES, PxmS DE, 33 

CniRET, Jules, 4, 6, 8-10, 15-34, 38, 40, 48, 

52, 62, 72, 94, 110, 142, 146 320 
Chesterfield Cigarettes 161, 204 
Chicago Sunday Tribune, 131 
Chickering Pianos, 200, 201 
Children's Book Week Poster, 213 
Chinese Posters, 124 
Chini, G^ 110 

Cigarettes Fanches, 170, 187 
Circular Staircase, 164, 167 



3(>(> 



Index 



CuvB, Henry, 146 

Collection of War Posters, 252 

Comef's Weekly Covers, 169, 220, 292, 300- 

303, 307, 309, 311, 318, 319, 327, 330-339, 

3H 346, 353, 355 
Caiman's Blue, 70 
Colontal Posters, 25% 264^ 256^ 257 
Columbia Graphophone, 20% 203 
Come On! 279 
Committee on PmbHe Information Posttr, 

290, 291 
Comptoir National d'Bscompte de Paris, 

256,257 
Concert de la Cigale, 52 
Conchita, 110 

Conservation Posters, 251, 252; 285, 287, 297 
Cooper, F. G^ 17% 183, 185, 188, 276^ 284- 

286 
Comer of the Studio, 177 
CossARD, A^ 33, 52; 57 
Coulisses de Wpera, 16, 17, 20, 24 
Country Carts Series, 220 
Covers in IB97 and 191% 32% 325 
Cox, E. A^ 89 
Craig, Gordon, 7% 77 
Crane, Walter, 62, 69 
Credit Commercial de France, 256, 257 
CxjmsFP, Thelma, 338 
Czecho-Slovaldan Posters, 124, 266^ 271 

Daily Herald Poster, 91 
Dans la Rue, 362-364 
Danse du Feu, 2A, 25 
Davenport, Edmund, 204, 207 
Demieres Cartouches, 256, 257 
Derry and Toms, 92, 93 
Diaphane Rice Powder, 2^ 26, 29 
Divan Japonois, 48, 49 
Djer^Kiss, 146 
Don Quixotte, 71 
Dor£, Gustave, 33 
Drydbn, Helen, 338^ 343, 344 
DuDovnxrn, N^ 110, 120 
Dutch Posters, 122 

Eastman, Ruth, 344, 347 

Echo, 135 

Edblfelt, Albert, 124 



Edison Masda Lamp, 146, 151 

Edwards, Geobce Wharton, 138^ 140 

Emerson, Casper, 290, 291 

En Flandes se ha Puesto el Sol, 122, 123 

Enfant Prodigue, 60 

English Posters, 60-93, 252; 256, 259-266 

Esposisione d'lgiene, 110 

Esposisione Internationale, 11% 113 

Eugime Buffet, 52; 360^362 

Everybody's Maganne Cover, 344, 351 

Exposition a la Bodiniire, 37, 38 

Faivre, Jules Akl, 252-254, 256, 257, 292 
Falls, C B^ 188, 200, 276^ 277, 282, 283, 

344, 351 
Fancher, Louis, 14% 14^ 164, 17% 173, 175, 

276^ 346 

Fate Tutti il Vostro Doveret, 266, 259 

Fatima Cigarettes, 204, 208, 209 

Feed a Fighter, 2S6, 287 

Ferry's Seeds, 146 

First to Fight, 277, 282, 

Fish, 338 

Fisher, Harrison, 288, 289 

Fisk Tires, 146 

Flagg, James Montgomery, 292, 295 

Folies Berghe, 16^ 2% 25 

FolHes, 7% 81, 142 

Food, 285 

Food is Ammunition, 286, 287 

FoRiNGBR, A. E^ 286^ 28% 289 

Forward to Victory, 256, 259, 260 

"Fountain, Peter," 318 

Four Minute Men Poster, 292, 293 

France Champagne, 48 

French Posters, (Frontispiece), 1, 8-1% 15- 

60, 252-257, 360-364 

Gaiety Girl, 70, 79 
German Posters, 94-103, 272 
Gibson, Charles Dana, 276 
Gilbert, Cass, 278 
Gimbel Brothers, 92 
Giovanni Frangipani, 110 
Girl on the Land, 292, 297 
Gismonda, 38, 41 
Golf Calendar, 220 
Gordon, Leon, 200, 204, 205 



Index 



3(>7 



Gould, J. J., 138, 140, 145, 316-318 

Grand Hotel RegoUdo, 117, 120 

Caant, Gosdon, 290, 29S 

Grassbt^ EuciNE, 33, 40, 51 

Greatest Mother in the World, 286, 288, 289 

Greiffbnha(»n, Mausicb, 72, 83 

Grun^ 52 

GunxAUMB, 33, 52 

Hall, Tom, 12-14 

Hallstrom, Gunnar, 96, 109 

Halt the Hun, 279 

Hallstrom, Gunnar, 96, 109 

Hansi, 256 

Hardy, Dudley, 70, 72; 79, 86 

Harper^s Magasine Posters, 130^ 162; 215- 

223, 225, 227-235 
Hart, Schaffner and Marx Posters, 192, 

197.20a 204, 205, 249 
Haskell, Ernest, 138, 140, 142 
Hassall, J^ 7ft 81, 86, 260, 263 
Hau and Company Champagne, 69 
Have You a Red Cross Service Flag, 288, 

289 
Hazenflug, Frank, 138, 140, 141 
Hehxand, W. E^ 200, 203 
Held, John, 338 
Helking, pRANas, 122 
Help Your Country, 260, 265 
Help Them, 290, 291 
Hermann Seherrer, Tailor, 94, 97, 99 
Herter, Albert, 2BS, 289 
HiP'Hipi Another Ship, 290, 291 
Hirers Root Beer, 146 

HOHENSTEIN, A^ lift 119, 120 

HoHLWEiN, LuDwiG, 94, 96-101, 164 

Holeproof Hosiery, 192, 195 

Holland Sketches, 224, 226, 237, 239, 241, 308 

Hooper, W. H^ 61 

Hopper, E^ 288, 290, 291 

HoRTER, Earl^ 12-14 

House and Garden Covers, 338, 341 

Hungarian Posters, 122 

HxTTAFF, August, 277, 282 

/ Buffoni, 115 

Ibels, H. G^ 48 

Iluan, Georo, 286^ 287 

In the Name of Mercy, 288, 289 



Inland Printer Covers, 32ft 325 

Interwoven Socks, 159 

Irene Henry, 48 

Italian Potters, 110-120, 252; 266^ 269 

Ivanowski, 142 

Ivory Soap, 152, 155 

Jackson, F. Ernest, 264 

Jane Az/ril, 48 

Japanese Posters, 124, 126^ 127 

Jeanne d'Arc, 40, 51 

Job Papier a Cigarettes, 16, 24, 27, 3S, 40, 

47, 48, 55 
Join the Army Air Service, 277, 282 
Join the United States School Garden 

Army, 295 
Jonas, Luoen, 256^ 257 
Judge Covers, 320, 329, 346 

Kauffer, E. McKnight, 91, 92 
Keep U Coming, 286, 287 
King, Hamilton, 2, 142; 188 

Lait pur de la Vingeanne, (Frontispiece), 

8,38, 136 
Laskoff, F^ 120 
Lautrec (See '^onloose-Laiitrec). 

LiANDRE, C 60 

Lend Him a Hand, 279, 284, 288 

Lend the Way They Fight, 279, 284 

Leroux, AuGUSTEy 256, 257 

LesUe Carter, 38 

Lbyendeckkr, F. X^ 14ft 318, 320-323, 338 

LsYENDBCKER, J. C, 14ft 146, 15M61, 204, 

281, 284, 32ft 325-329, 346 
Life Covers, 346 

Lippincotfs MagaMine Poster, 140, 145 
LiPSOOMBE, Guy, 26ft 261, 264 
Liverpool Art School, 62, 67 
Loan Posters, 251-257, 267, 269, 275, 279, 281 
London Underground Railways, 86-89, 92, 

264 
Lorensaccio, 38 
Lowell, Orson, 346 
Lux Soap, 7ft 81 
LuxUe Hosiery, 192 

McClure's Magaeine Covers, 318, 321, 344, 
345