Page 123 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

HAWKINS (DATES UNKNOWN)
144 ● LEST WE REGRET . . . / DEFEND AMERICA - HELP BRITAIN. Circa 1940.
28x18 inches, 71x453/4 cm. L.I.P. & B.A., New York.
Condition B+: creases along vertical and horizontal folds and in margins and image. Paper.
Adapted from the line “Lest We forget” in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, Recessional, this World War II
poster was not printed by the United States Government, but by a private committee. Kipling’s phrase
had become quite popular across the British Empire after the First World War and was commonly
used on war memorials and epitaphs. This powerful play on words adds the addition of guilt onto the
viewer’s conscience. In addition to paraphrasing a British-originated phrase, the designer also liberally
borrows from the British design book, using techniques employed by Abram Games and E. McKnight
Kauffer in their war work for the British. [400/600]