Abram Games (1914-1996). FLY TO BRITAIN BY B.O.A.C. 1949. 30x19½ inches, 76¼x49½ cm.

Lot description

ABRAM GAMES (1914-1996) FLY TO BRITAIN BY B.O.A.C. 1949. 30x19 1/2 inches, 76 1/4x49 1/2 cm. Condition A-: creases and abrasions at upper right edge and corner; minor abrasions at edges. Framed. In post-war Britain, competition between the different airlines was fierce, and so, the airline companies hired the best graphic designers in the field, such as F.K. Henrion, Ashley Havinden and Abram Games, to help them advertise. At the time when Games was creating a series of posters for B.O.A.C., the trend among artists was not to illustrate the actual airplanes (as had been the style in the thirties), but instead to advertise the advantages of flying, such as saved travel time. In order to capture these concepts, the designers created beautiful, symbolic and surrealistically-inspired images that quite poetically captured the abstract concepts they were advertising. Here, Games literally folds the map, narrowing the span of the Atlantic and ensuring a much quicker flight to Britain on the Speedbird. Another text variant says "Fly the Atlantic by B.O.A.C." (See Swann Sale 2510 Lot 156). Games fig. 125, IPA 51 no. 54.