Poster, American Airlines, California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico

E. McKnight Kauffer was born in Montana but in the mid-1910s traveled to England, where he settled and became a successful commercial artist whose work helped to elevate the status of the poster to that of the fine arts. He believed art and commerce could exist harmoniously, and used fine-art styles and techniques in his celebrated poster designs. He maintained, however, that the goal of a poster, unlike a painting, was always to sell products. In 1940, at the outbreak of World War II, he moved to New York. Although he never gained the renown he experienced in England, he found work designing for corporate clients and war relief agencies. In 1946–1953, he produced more than thirty posters for American Airlines, most of which are represented in the Cooper Hewitt collection. Kauffer wrote that travel posters should convey in a simple and straightforward way, "the character of places, the manners and differences of people, architectural interests and amusements." He often focused on the places and their people, rather than the travel itself, as shown from this image of a Western woman wearing a cowboy hat and red bandana.

Poster, American Airlines, California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico; Designed by Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954); Client: American Airlines (United States); USA; offset lithograph on paper, lined; 100.5 × 76.4 cm (39 9/16 × 30 1/16 in.); Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer; 1963-39-153