![An offset lithogaph on paper poster encouraging travel to California with American Airlines. A black and white photograph of a female figure in a swimming costume is montaged into an illustrated beach scene with golden sand, piled infront of her pointed toes, and a rectangular strip of blue ocean with white waves stretching behind her legs to the right. The figure appears to toss a large red, orange and yellow beach ball into the air in the center right. Blue and black capitalised, italicised text in the upper center says [AMERICAN/ AIRLINES], followed by orange capitalised, italicised text, printed at a diagonal towards the right corner, in the center, which says [TO CALIFORNIA]. The American Airlines logo in orange and brown follows this text and is represented by two capital letter As with a bird of prety between them with its wings stretched upwards. The poster is signed in blue ink [E. McKnight Kauffer] in the lower right under the waves.]( https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/65113_3fa58db5258f93ac_b.jpg
"Poster, American Airlines to California, 1948")
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Object Timeline
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Poster, American Airlines to California, 1948
This is a Poster. It was designed by E. McKnight Kauffer and made for (as the client) American Airlines. It is dated 1948 and we acquired it in 1963. Its medium is lithograph. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
In the late 1940s, Kauffer and Bernard Waldman set out west on research trips for a series of American Airlines posters. These adventures resulted in one of the most successful campaigns of Kauffer’s career. The subject of flight had long brought out the best in Kauffer. A painting of Flight, the iconic poster that had kick-started his career, hung in his studio until his death. As the writer Arnold Bennett had described him years before, Kauffer was “as a bird, forever in flight, forever searching for a place to come to rest.”
This object was
donated by
Mrs. Edward McKnight Kauffer.
It is credited Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
![An offset lithograph on paper poster encouraging travel to Paris with American Airlines. A photoillustration of a winged figure in long following robes leans towards the left and is colored in yellow which fades to turquoise from left to right. This figure represents the iconic Winged Victory of Samothrace from the Louvre Collection and takes up three quarters of the poster from the lower center. Capitalised italicised text in black and turquoise in the upper center printed on a right facing diagonal towards the upper right corner states [AMERICAN AIRLINES], followed by a black diagonal line stretching from the left edge of the first 'A' in [AMERICAN] to the lower right edge of the paper. Underneath this the word [PARIS] is printed in the center right in capital letters alternating between black and turquoise wih the letter 'R' in red. In the lower right corner beneath the figure's robe is the American Airlines logo in light blue, represented by two capital letter As with a bird of prey in between with its wings stretched upwards. Beneath this is the designer's signature [E. McKnight Kauffer] in light blue ink. The poster is inscribed in black capitalised letters [LITHO IN U. S. A.] in the lower left.](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/324643_e244fd6dd50b0c72_n.jpg "Poster, American Airlines to Paris")
- Poster, American Airlines to Paris
- lithograph.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-141
- Print, Paris
- offset lithograph on paper, mounted on board.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-164-d
- Print, All Europe
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-164-f
Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.
- Print, American Airlines to England
- offset lithograph on paper, mounted on board.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-164-g
Its dimensions are
101.9 × 76.4 cm (40 1/8 × 30 1/16 in.)
It is signed
Printed in script in blue ink, lower right: E. McKnight Kauffer
Cite this object as
Poster, American Airlines to California, 1948; Designed by Edward McKnight Kauffer (American, active England, 1890–1954); USA; lithograph; 101.9 × 76.4 cm (40 1/8 × 30 1/16 in.); Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer; 1963-39-131
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.
