London History at the London Museum poster – McKnight Kauffer – 1922

London History at the London Museum poster – McKnight Kauffer – 1922 This vintage London History at the London Museum poster is one of artist Edward McKnight Kauffer’s most famous posters. It is one of a series of posters commissioned by London Transport’s publicity manager, Frank Pick to advertise the principal museums in London. The Museum advertised on this poster for London’s Underground Railway is the London Museum. The poster advises the reader that the best tube stations to stop at, to visit the London Museum are Dover Street or St James Park. The London History at the London Museum poster shows a church-like building, presumably intended to represent the original St Paul’s Cathedral that was destroyed in the fire. In the poster, the church is engulfed in grey, yellow, orange, black, and red smoke and flames. The vintage London History at the London Museum poster references what is still perhaps London’s worst disaster, The Great Fire of London. The Great Fire of London is one of the most well-known disasters in London’s history. It began on 2 September 1666 and lasted just under five days. Kauffer was inspired by an exhibit at the exhibition, an illuminated model of the devastating fire. The Great Fire of London is one of the most well-known disasters in London’s history. It began on 2 September 1666 and lasted just under five days. Kauffer was an American-born artist and graphic designer who moved to London in 1923 before returning to New York in 1940. Although relatively unknown in America, Kauffer became a prominent poster artist in England. In addition to the London History at the London Museum poster, Edward McKnight Kauffer work includes advertising posters for Shell Oil, American Airlines, Cresta Silk, Orient Line, Barnum and Bailey’s Circus, the New York Subways, and the Great Western Railway. Kauffer is perhaps best known for the 140 posters he produced for the London Underground and London Transport. The first posters Kauffer created for the London Underground Railways appeared in 1915. Over the next 25 years, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, Ltd became his biggest client His poster work for the Underground and London Transport is unlike that of any other poster artist. His 140 posters for the companies span many styles and show influences of abstraction, modernism, futurism, cubism and vorticism, impressionism, and even Japanese woodcuts.