Underground Modernist
Fig. 1. Power, the Nerve Centre of London’s Underground, designed by E. McKnight Kauffer (1890–1954), 1930, published by Transport for London, printed by Vincent Brooks, Day, and Son, London, 1931. Lithograph, 40 by 24 ½ inches. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer. All photographs are courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and, except as noted, are by Matt Flynn, © Smithsonian Institution. For nearly twenty years between the two World Wars, E. McKnight Kauffer, an American, was the most celebrated graphic designer in England (Fig. 8). 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’s distinctive artistic perspective quickly gave rise to such an outstanding reputation that, by the early 1920s, one of his clients could placate a waiting public between designs by papering billboards with a label: “A New McKnight Kauffer Poster Will Appear Here Shortly.” Fig. 3. Installation view of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer, at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to April 10. A man of populist conviction, Kauffer believed fervently that modern art should move beyond the walls of museums and galleries to infiltrate all elements of daily life. His belief that innovative expression should be matched by social and cultural engagement marked him as a modernist. From the outset of his career until his death, Kauffer championed the principle that a designer held a responsibility not only to his client but also to his public. A poster, he believed, was a work of art that served the dual purpose of informing people and aiding industry. It was an opportunity both to share important information and to introduce people to a new way