Let's Heat with Household Coal

Káldor László

Erscheinungsdatum: 1953

Beschreibung

Size: B2 (cca. 70 x 50 cm). Let s heat with household coal More warmth for less money commercial poster from the early 1950s It was created by Laszla Kaldor Kaldor was an important graphic artist and interior designer between 1935 and the 1960s He is mostly known for his humorous and caricaturistic designs In the 1930s his posters were influenced by the modernist constructivist tendency of the interwar period but after the World War II he joined to take part in the rise of political poster art This movement was lead by Gy rgy Konecsni a prominent Hungarian poster artist who influenced numerous poster artists of the time including K ldor Later in the 1950s K ldor s style became more and more playful and light hearted In the beginning of the 1950s however artistic freedom was under constraint by political dictatorship in Hungary in accordance with other Eastern European countries in the Soviet Union The norms of Socialist Realism were obligatory which meant that poster designers had to meet the requirements of socialist content and a realist manner However the system soon started to soften and after 1956 Socialist Realism lost its absolutism in the country This poster was also created in the first years of the decade particularly in 1953 It was motivating the population to use household coal for heating with suggesting that it helps saving money though it is more likely that coal was more available those times due to the emphasis on the heavy industry in the strong industrialization process The design shows the influence of the common political poster style of the second part of the 1940s originated from Konecsni s oeuvre which was the second phase in K ldor s poster designer activity It is not without a good reason after the installation of the political regime it was easier to adapt to the new circumstances by employing this kind of visuality because it could fit into the atmosphere of Socialist Realism For instance this poster depicts a realistic portrait of a male hand as it is shovelling coal into an oven The fire door is open the fire is burning inside even the hot pitted inner layer of the fire door is depicted Although the portrayal is a bit stylized the whole appearance is realistic enough to be accepted in the era The scene is put on the upper section of the poster while the script appears on the lower section of it in a simplified typographic design Except for the simple red shades the colours are low keyed and greyish The whole design is really easy to understand and it propagates the product with simple tools and motives thus it could easily reach its target group the peasantry and the working class This was one of the most important qualities of the popular political poster style of the late 1940s and it remained the aim of the socialist realist propaganda posters of the early 1950s too However this piece is more interesting than the general contemporaneous pieces due to its clear composition with massive shapes and elementary design This poster reveals Kaldor s tactic to fulfil the requirements of the time being realistic figurative and propagandistic without over idealizing being falsely cheerful and heroic It is an important piece as a historical document and as a piece of art as well Fine, a very small tear at the bottom left border. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 2276

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Let's Heat with Household Coal

Erscheinungsdatum: 1953

Einband: Paper, offset lithography.