Largest-ever retrospective on graphic design pioneer E. McKnight Kauffer
Hailed in his lifetime as “the poster king,” E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890–1954) believed that the street was an art gallery for the people. While living in England between 1914 and 1940, Kauffer produced radical posters for advertising that introduced modernism to the public. He experimented in provocative ways with line, form, space, and color to promote services and products. He did not limit himself to posters, and designed a remarkable range of book covers, rugs, theatrical productions, and more, continuing his work in New York from 1940 until his death.
Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer is the largest-ever retrospective to examine the designer’s impact and legacy across media. Organized chronologically in 10 sections, the exhibition traces Kauffer’s career from his beginnings as a painter to his transformation into an internationally renowned commercial artist.
Exhibition Highlights
About E. MCKNIGHT KAUFFER
Photograph, E. McKnight Kauffer, ca. 1920; Photograph by Maud B. Davis; Gelatin silver print; 20.3 × 15.2 cm (8 × 6 in.); Simon Rendall Collection; Photo: Hugh Gilbert
Kauffer was a pioneer of commercial art—the profession known today as graphic design.
At the height of his career in the 1920s and 1930s, Kauffer, an American, was among the most influential artists in England. In 1940, he moved to New York, joining the influx of European designers who brought dynamism to American advertising. His remarkable output includes eye-catching posters for the London Underground, illustrations for celebrated works of literature, and iconic graphics for major corporations such as Shell-Mex and American Airlines.
Through collaborations with his peers in art, literature, performance, and film, Kauffer widened the scope and impact of his practice. A champion of new media, Kauffer’s work included commissions as varied as film titles for Alfred Hitchco*ck’s The Lodger, illustrations for T. S. Eliot’sArielpoems, costumes for theatrical and ballet productions, and covers for novels by H. G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, and Ralph Ellison. He shared a dark room with Man Ray and worked with groundbreaking textile designer Marion V. Dorn, who would later become his wife.
Kauffer resisted defining himself with one place to call home, one community of friends, or one artistic style. He was constantly in motion, fulfilling a lifelong impulse for travel and a hunger to experience something new. Kauffer and his friends embraced modernism in their creative work, lifestyle, and attitudes toward sexuality, gender roles, and politics. Though Kauffer considered himself a progressive and an egalitarian, his commissioned work tells a more complicated story about his ideals, his privilege, and his perspective on race.
His dedication to design as a social responsibility guided his distinguished career and defines his legacy. “The artist in advertising is a new kind of being,” Kauffer wrote in 1938. “His responsibilities are to my mind very considerable. It is his business constantly to correct values, to establish new ones, to stimulate advertising and help to make it something worthy of the civilization that needs it.”
publication
E. McKnight Kauffer: The Artist in Advertising, co-published by Cooper Hewitt and Rizzoli Electa, features 11 incisive essays from an interdisciplinary group of scholars and provides new contexts through which to examine Kauffer’s work and its impact on design and culture in the early 20th century. Designed by Lucinda Hitchco*ck, the book includes a chronology and a richly illustrated plate section.
The publication—a 2021 Alice Award finalist—is available atSHOP Cooper Hewitt.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The exhibition is organized by Caitlin Condell, Associate Curator and Head of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design at Cooper Hewitt, and Emily M. Orr, Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary American Design at Cooper Hewitt, with Caroline O’Connell, Curatorial Assistant, and Kristina Parsons, Curatorial Assistant.
Exhibition design and graphics by LucienneRoberts+ and Universal Design Studio.
Interpretation with Larnies A. Bowen.
SUPPORT
Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer is made possible with support from the Barbara and Morton Mandel Design Gallery Endowment Fund, the Ehrenkranz Fund, and the Esme Usdan Exhibition Endowment Fund.
E. McKnight Kauffer: The Artist in Advertisingis made possible in part byFurthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund.
Marion Dorn, Back in the USA
American designers Marion V. Dorn and E. McKnight Kauffer returned to New York in 1940 after a long, productive period working abroad in England. Their retreat, spurred by World War II, was a hasty one. Dorn, the more resilient of the pair, spent much of the 1940s re-establishing her career, even briefly designing scarves for...
Read Time
4 minutes
Posted By
Kimberly Randall
Date
March 17, 2022
Judge a Book by its Cover
Do you judge books by their covers? What makes you pick up a book or magazine? A successful cover design might allude to the content within its pages, invoke feelings, or communicate a powerful message. Designers make distinct choices to create this dynamic first impression and invite people to open the book. Join us for...
Post Type
Video
Date
March 14, 2022
Judge a Book by its Cover
Join us for a virtual panel discussion in celebration of Cooper Hewitt’s current exhibition, Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer, offering perspectives on Kauffer’s book covers and exploring how they have influenced book cover design today.
Post Type
Event
Event Date
March 14, 2022
Graphic Design Histories Lecture | E. McKnight Kauffer: The Artist in Advertising
Graphic designer E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890–1954) integrated avant-garde style into modern life, designing everything from posters and book covers to carpets, film titles, theatrical productions, and more. Go beneath the surface of the work with curators Caitlin Condell and Emily M. Orr to discover aspects of Kauffer’s life, design process, and creative struggles. The...
Post Type
Event
Event Date
March 2, 2022
Mind the Gap: Women Designing for Transit
In celebration ofCooper Hewitt’scurrentexhibition,Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer,thisdynamic discussionwilltrace theincreasingimpactofwomen in the design ofthetransitexperiencefrom the early 20thcenturyto the presentinLondon and New York.
Post Type
Event
Event Date
December 9, 2021
A Commercial Artist with Ideals
For nearly twenty years between the two world wars, E. McKnight Kauffer, an American, was the most celebrated graphic designer in England. He was best known for his eye-catching posters, but his book covers and illustrations, graphic identities, carpets, stage sets, costumes, and ephemera were also among the most arresting of his era. Kauffer believed fervently that modern art should move beyond the walls of museums and galleries to infiltrate all elements of daily life.
Read Time
20 minutes
Posted By
Caitlin Condell
Date
November 8, 2021
Behind the Design: E. McKnight Kauffer
How do graphic designers engage with Cooper Hewitt’s own graphic design collection? Curators Caitlin Condell and Emily M. Orr welcome their recent collaborators, designers Lucinda Hitchco*ck and Lucienne Roberts, to discuss their experiences of interpreting the work of commercial art pioneer E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890-1954). Hitchco*ck and Roberts each drew inspiration from the museum’s...
Post Type
Video
Date
October 4, 2021
Behind the Design | In Print and On View: Designing for E. McKnight Kauffer at Cooper Hewitt
How do graphic designers engage with Cooper Hewitt’s own graphic design collection? Curators Caitlin Condell and Emily M. Orr welcome their recent collaborators, designers Lucinda Hitchco*ck and Lucienne Roberts, to discuss their experiences of interpreting the work of commercial art pioneer E. McKnight Kauffer (American, 1890-1954).
Post Type
Event
Event Date
September 28, 2021
