Page 126 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

CHARLES T. COINER (1898-1989)
148 ● NRA. Circa 1933.
24x18 3/4 inches, 61x471/2 cm.
Condition A- / B+: minor restoration at edges;
abrasions in image.
Coiner learned his craft during a six-year stint at
an advertising agency in Chicago. In 1924, he
moved to Philadelphia, where he joined the art
department at N.W. Ayer. He was a young,
dashing figure in the advertising world and he
gained national recognition with the logo he
designed for the NRA. He became a key figure in
the modern approach to advertising during the
late-1930s while working with the Container
Corporation of America campaigns, for which he
was allowed to hire all of the avant-garde talents
that he wanted. During the Second World War,
he was appointed as a consultant to the office of
Emergency Management,where he continued
hiring top graphic designers to create propaganda
aimed at the war industries, including the
memorable Production poster by Jean Carlu.
Coiner’s “Blue Eagle” became a ubiquitous sight
during New Deal America, as it was displayed coast-to-coast by businesses. It has since become an icon of
American Modernism. Enacted in 1933, the National Industrial Recovery Act was a New Deal public
works program intended to provide an economic stimulus. The logo was used and reused so frequently
that it is RARE to find a copy bearing Coiner’s printed signature, suggesting that this poster was from a very
early printing. Enyclopedie de l’Affiche p. 104 (var), Resnick 17 (var). [400/600]
149
148