Edward McKnight Kauffer (1890 - 1954)
Born Edward Leland Kauffer in Montana, the artist chose the middle name “McKnight” after his good friend Professor Joseph McKnight loaned the painter money to study art at the Académie Moderne in Paris. Already, Kauffer had studied at Institute of Art in San Francisco and worked in Paul Elder’s Gallery. On his way to Europe, Kauffer stopped in Chicago in 1913 and saw several Modern art styles displayed at the Armory Show. He he continued on his way to France, he viewed many publicly displayed posters by Ludwig Hohlwin. This exposed Kauffer to a more Modernist approach and the German public’s appreciation of posters as fine art on display he viewed in Munich. After the outbreak of World War I, Kauffer made his way to London where Frank Pick, Publicity Manager of London Underground Railways, commissioned Kauffer to create posters advertising London Transport. Creating 140 posters and many more two-dimensional works, Kauffer advanced as a prolific and highly successful graphic artist in Europe in the 1920s and 30s.
