CLARENCE COLES PHILLIPS (1880-1927) LIGHT CONSUMES COAL. Circa 1918. 27x20 inches, 68x52 cm. Edwards & Deutsch Litho Co., Chicago. Condition A- / B+: repaired tears and restoration at edges; minor abrasions in image. Matted and framed. In what is perhaps the most "artistic" of the American World War I posters, Phillips unites the bold, direct elements of German object posters by artists such as Lucien Bernhard with the intricate swirls and patterns of American Art Nouveau in the style of William Bradley Walton Rawls writes in Wake Up America that with the exception of Phillips, "in the work of the majority of American artists who contributed posters to the war effort, there is little evidence of direct inspiration from European precedents" (p. 20). Interestingly, while it may echo the work of European artists (Rawls points specifically to a 1907 image by Peter Behrens featuring a light bulb), the poster represents a drastic divergence from Phillips's usual style. He was nationally known for his "fadeaway girls," which graced the covers of Life magazine from 1908 onward. In these images, which stylistically seemed to borrow from both the Beggarstaff Brothers and Ludwig Hohlwein Phillips featured attractive young women whose clothing was the same color as the background, so that viewers needed to complete the image in their imagination. Rawls p. 20, Modern American 28, Darracott p. 36.
CLARENCE COLES PHILLIPS (1880-1927) LIGHT CONSUMES COAL. Circa 1918. 27x20 inches, 68x52 cm. Edwards & Deutsch Litho Co., Chicago. Condition A- / B+: repaired tears and restoration at edges; minor abrasions in image. Matted and framed. In what is perhaps the most "artistic" of the American World War I posters, Phillips unites the bold, direct elements of German object posters by artists such as Lucien Bernhard with the intricate swirls and patterns of American Art Nouveau in the style of William Bradley Walton Rawls writes in Wake Up America that with the exception of Phillips, "in the work of the majority of American artists who contributed posters to the war effort, there is little evidence of direct inspiration from European precedents" (p. 20). Interestingly, while it may echo the work of European artists (Rawls points specifically to a 1907 image by Peter Behrens featuring a light bulb), the poster represents a drastic divergence from Phillips's usual style. He was nationally known for his "fadeaway girls," which graced the covers of Life magazine from 1908 onward. In these images, which stylistically seemed to borrow from both the Beggarstaff Brothers and Ludwig Hohlwein Phillips featured attractive young women whose clothing was the same color as the background, so that viewers needed to complete the image in their imagination. Rawls p. 20, Modern American 28, Darracott p. 36.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
