1923 Austrian Art Deco Poster, Teppichhaus Repper - Willrab

Julius Klinger was an Austrian artist of Jewish descent who had, in Vienna in 1923, an art school and studio where he and his students taught graphic and marketing design. Klinger is considered by many to be the father of what is now commonly termed 'branding': using graphics and graphic design to convey the message of the brand, and to create 'brand equity' therein. Klinger was the first to use a logo not only on a product itself, but also on buildings, billboards and advertisements - essentially creating a lasting and unforgettable image of a brand for consumers. In Klinger's 1923 presentation of his studio and its designs, he wrote: "The moving spirit of Vienna poster-designers whose work is reproduced in this production, is Julius Klinger, at once the oldest and best known among them. For more than a quarter of a century he has devoted himself to this special line of art; he was twenty when he began and is now forty-eight. From the first he gave up all his time and thought to his work, for he is a poster-designer body and soul. His entire cosmos is bound up with it. America is the land of his heart's desire. But for him America is but a theoretical conception for he has never had the good luck to see it for himself and experience its life. It may be that just for this reason his longings are the more intense. America as he conceives it means spacious style, World Power and an eye for the future. Klinger's posters bear relation to life as it really is. He knows that in the poster, this intellectual artifice, he can express the most trivial things of everyday life. This belief has enabled him to gather around him a number of congenial spirits and his Americanized ideas in weary, stale Europe are finding more and more supporters. Klinger is not unknown in America. His posters have been frequently reproduced there and have gained much appreciation from connoisseurs for the purity of their lines." Klingers portfolio included designs from some of these other 'congenial spirits' - Cosl & Frey (described in the portfolio are 'two thirty years old men of slender build are at once long tried friends and members of the Klinger group. They have gained much fame in Vienna: Pregnancy of lines, originality of coloration and forcefulness of ideas are the most striking features of their performances') and Willrab (described as 'This blond giant, famous goalkeeper and passionate dancer is most serious in his art. He is the man of exactness, all things technical interest him and he pictures them in a masterly manner.')