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Blase, Karl Oskar
born 1925 in Cologne, died 2016 in D - Kassel
poster of the exhibition at Städtische Galerie München
title: Wir Alle - The Family of Man
photo: Eugene V. Harris
1955
original design (together with Felix Müller)
colour offset
84 cm x 60 cm
traces of age and use, taped tear at the right and at the lower border, any slight creases at the lower part, regarding the age in good condition
order no. 19639
The photo exhibition 'The Family of Man' was composed 1951 by Edward Steichen for the MOMA in New York. 503 photos were shown in the year 1955. The exhibition arrived in 68 countries. It should be the most successful exhibition of photos ever held. Concerning the financing of the exhibition and its position in the Cold War and the era of atom bomb look at Sandeen, 1995, p. 42 f. and 100 ff. It was declared by UNESCO to World Heritage Site, today it's in in Luxemburg.
The motif "Peruvian flute player" has been chosen by Edward Steichen. It seemed to be "lighthearted" and punctuate the sentence: "Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul." The photographer Eugene V. Harris came to Steichen to report on the death of his collegue Werner Bischoff. Harris and Bischof "had been photographing in Peru when Bischof died by an automobile accident. Harris brought with him some of his own work from South America, including the photograph of the flute player." Look at Sandeen, 1995, p.45
The exhibition took also place in Paris, see Harris, Eugene (order no. 23109).
Karl Oskar Blase, pathbreaking german graphic artist, studies in graphic and painting in Wuppertal (Germany), art dicector (together with Felix Müller) of the 'Amerikahäuser' in Germany (1952-1958), professor at the Kunsthochschule Kassel (1966-1992), corporate design (poster, catalogue and partly logo) for the documenta 4,5,6,8, design of more than 50 stamps for the German Post (1955-1988), managing board Kasseler Kunstverein (Germany), he designed numerous posters for exhibitions (please have a look in our stock) and institutions (e.g. Atlas Film-Verleih, Staatstheater Kassel, 'form' - Zeitschrift für Gestaltung) and also functional design patterns (e.g. 'Falke Strümpfe', cutlery 'mono'), lives and works in Kassel, Germany.
Felix Müller, born 1923 in D - Solingen, died 1996, studied in graphic in Wuppertal, student of Jupp Ernst, founded together with Karl Oskar Blase the graphic office müller-blase, teacher and director at the art school in Bremen.
Lit.:
Blase, Karl Oskar, Grafik Design von 49 bis 95, Ausstellungskatalog Deutsches Plakatmuseum Essen 1995, S.57
The Family of Man, Cat. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 30th Anniversary Edition, 1983
Sandeen, Eric J., Picturing an Exhibition, The Family of Man and 1950s America, University of New Mexico Press, 1995
Fine descritpion of the poster in Lukatis, Christiane u.a.: Plakat Kunst Kassel, Austellungskat. Neue Galerie Kassel 2017, no. 4, p.54 f., about Felix Müller, p.258
See also our catalogue 'From Arp to Pollock': Art and exhibition posters in France and Germany 1945-1960, Cologne 2016
