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ITEM: You
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bidding on a vintage and original 1939 New York World's Fair poster with advertising for United Air Lines, created by the important graphic artist Albert Staehle, who is best known for the modernist art deco imagery he created for the 1939 World's Fair. Image features a futuristic view of a modern woman triumphant in front of the Trylon & Perisphere that represented the mission of the world's fair, "Building the World of Tomorrow." Framed in simple newer chrome frame this is untrimmed and complete as desired, measuring 20" x 30". Text at base (not visible in photos) reads "c NYWF Loaned by Central Outdoor Advertising Co. Made in USA by SA no I union Labor NY Grinnell Litho Co. Inc NYC" This is an absolutely wonderful and important coveted machine age poster with spectacular art deco machine age modernist imagery. 100% guaranteed vintage & original as always from grapefruitmoongallery!
CONDITION: This is in very fine condition overall, it is untrimmed and complete with a small tide line in lower right edge, the colors are bright and this displays without issue. A great piece of World's Fair Memorabilia.
As always this is 100% guaranteed vintage and original.
Albert Staehle, the illustrator made famous by the Smokey the Bear character for the National Forest Service and many other advertisement illustrations, including a long run for Carter's Ink (cats), Swan Soap (swans), and Imperial Whiskey (various wildlife), was born in Munich, Bavaria in 1899. The artist moved to New York City in 1914 when his father, an American newspaper illustrator, relocated the family. Albert Staehle attended The Art Students League and studied under George Bridgman. He later studied with Hans Hofmann in both New York and at the Wicker School of Art in Detroit. At age 16 he was working as a commercial artist.
In 1932 Staehle opened Kent Studios in New York with Albert Dorne, a noted American illustrator. The studio became one of the most successful art studios in New York City.
Staehle's drawing of a cow feeding her calf from a bottle of milk won a poster competition in 1937and has been credited with being a precursor to the Borden's campaign. Elsie the Cow went on to become a household name across America. Staehle received numerous commissions for animal illustrations and was awarded the Kerwin Fulton Award for "The Advancement of Art in Outdoor Advertising" for three years in a row. His advertisements which always included animals graced the billboards of the nation's highways.
Staehle is also known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, which often were of his beloved cocker spaniel, Butch. Butch appeared on twenty-five covers in five years and was number one in newsstand sales. Butch and Staehle did much work for charity, and in 1956 Butch was named the mascot for the United States Navy and appeared on recruitment posters.
During War World II Staehle directed his work to the war effort and was responsible for the creation of Smokey the Bear.
After three short and unsuccessful marriages early in his career, Staehle found happiness in his marriage to Marjory Houston, a photographer, in 1956. The couple relocated to North Miami, Florida and had four daughters.
Albert Staehle died on April 4, 1974 in Florida.
Sources:
Illustration, Issue Number five, January 2003
Additional information courtesy of Sharon Damkaer, author of Albert Staehle and Cover Boy Butch: A Biography and Collectibles Guide
In April of 1939 the New York World's Fair, "Building The World of Tomorrow," opened on what was once a marshy wasteland in Flushing Meadows, just east of the great metropolis. From its inception to its closing ceremonies, the Fair promoted one of the last great metanarratives of the Machine Age: the unqualified belief in science and technology as a means to economic prosperity and personal freedom. Wedged between the greatest economic disaster in America and the growing international tension that would result in World War II, The World of Tomorrow was a much-needed antidote to the depression and confusion of the times. It provided the one saving grace which all of America needed - it provided hope. Of course that hope was not to come without some cost, and counted among the limitations of The World of Tomorrow were its emphasis on product consumption and a hegemonic notion of the ideal American citizen. The Fair's established theme was one of international cooperation, but its true emphasis was on the "new-ness" of ideas, forms, and especially consumer products. Like all things new, it was immensely exciting and at times naive. However, in the words of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the "moonlight of romance" which surrounded the Fair inevitably gave way, and in two summers it ran its course, closing in 1940. Nevertheless, its cultural legacy has lasted well into the late twentieth century and has helped shape and define the commercial, cultural, and political climate of post-World War II America and the world. In a sense, we have lived through The World of Tomorrow, and the Fair has kept many of its promises, for better or for worse. Part ideological construct, part trade show, part League of Nations, part amusement park, and part Utopian community, the Fair promoted its message of hope and prosperity with icons, symbols, exhibitions, and demonstrations. It was a literal laboratory for a group of industrial designers who considered themselves both artists and social theorists, and from the plan of the Fair's site to many of its prominent buildings, the Fair's primary stylistic vocabulary was that of the streamlined and Modern design which they helped establish. Nowhere was that design more apparent than in the Trylon and Perisphere, a 700-foot spire and an orb as wide as a city block, created to be the exposition's focal point. The Trylon and Perisphere remain forever linked with The World of Tomorrow; both loom as profound and problematic icons on the landscape of American culture.
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