Page 119 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

HAROLD VON SCHMIDT (DATES UNKNOWN)
139 ● DO IT ELECTRICALLY! / AMERICA’S ELECTRICAL WEEK. 1916.
32x23 1/2 inches, 81 1/4 x593/4 cm.
Condition B+: minor restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; abrasions in image.
This charming image was chosen out of more than eight hundred entries into a competition sponsored
by the SED (Society for Electrical Development) in anticipation of America’s Electrical Week. “The
theme of the poster is to symbolize or portray electricity as the greatest factor in modern civilization
. . . [the Society] announced its desire to obtain a poster which would clearly and forcibly stand for
Electricity” (Electrical Review and Western Electrician, July 15, 1916, p. 94). “The poster might well
be entitled ‘The Modern Aladdin’ . . . yet the modern Aladdin pictured in this poster performs wonder
the makes the adventures of the Arabian Nights hero fade into insignificance. Gone is the ancient
lamp. Now it is the gentle touch of a button and forthwith comes the Genie, electricity. He bears not
precious stones but things far more precious-light, heat, power. And this wonderful Genie comes and
goes, as did Aladdin’s, at our bidding. He is always ‘at your service.’ The thought of America’s Electrical
Week . . . could not be presented to the people better” (ibid). [1,500/2,000]