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National Air and Space Museum

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Object Details

Manufacturer
Chromoworks Ltd.
Artist
James Gardner, 1908-1995
Sponsor
Royal Australian Air Force
Physical Description
Image of the bombing (by Bristol Blenheims) in daylight of the power station at Knapsack, Germany by the Royal Air Force. Relief Halftone/Screen print.
Summary
Fly Now: The National Air and Space Museum Poster Collection
Throughout their history, posters have been a significant means of mass communication, often with striking visual effect. Wendy Wick Reaves, the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Curator of Prints and Drawings, comments that "sometimes a pictorial poster is a decorative masterpiece-something I can't walk by without a jolt of aesthetic pleasure. Another might strike me as extremely clever advertising … But collectively, these 'pictures of persuasion,' as we might call them, offer a wealth of art, history, design, and popular culture for us to understand. The poster is a familiar part of our world, and we intuitively understand its role as propaganda, promotion, announcement, or advertisement."
Reaves' observations are especially relevant for the impressive array of aviation posters in the National Air and Space Museum's 1300+ artifact collection. Quite possibly the largest publicly-held collection of its kind in the United States, the National Air and Space Museum's posters focus primarily on advertising for aviation-related products and activities. Among other areas, the collection includes 19th-century ballooning exhibition posters, early 20th-century airplane exhibition and meet posters, and twentieth-century airline advertisements.
The posters in the collection represent printing technologies that include original lithography, silkscreen, photolithography, and computer-generated imagery. The collection is significant both for its aesthetic value and because it is a unique representation of the cultural, commercial and military history of aviation. The collection represents an intense interest in flight, both public and private, during a significant period of its technological and social development.
Credit Line
Donated by Mrs. Mary E. "Mother" Tusch
1943
Inventory Number
A19500190000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
ART-Posters, Original Art Quality
Medium
Poster, Military Aviation
Dimensions
2-D - Unframed (H x W): 76.2 × 50.2cm (2 ft. 6 in. × 1 ft. 7 3/4 in.)
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Australia
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
National Air and Space Museum
Record ID
nasm_A19500190000
Metadata Usage (text)
Not determined
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9466a5d97-6347-4c99-aa2c-de5987f20741

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There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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