LESTER BEALL (1903 - 1969)

A Turn of the Hand / Rural Electrification Administration.
Partial-silkscreen poster, paper. 1022x762 mm; 40¼x30 inches. Circa 1939.

Lester Beall was one of the first designers commissioned by the U.S. Government to help promote the Rural Electrification Administration. The posters he created in this series, released in three sets for the R.E.A., pitched basic modern amenities to the hinter lands of America, where many such "luxuries" were virtually unknown. The R.E.A. existed not only to help rural America enter into the modern age but also served to create jobs for a Depression-ravaged country. Elevating visual communication to an extremely efficient level, Beall's style involves a technique close to the ideogram, employing clear and direct images, free from any exterior influences that would lessen the pure message.

Beall 115.

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