decades. Struggling to find work, heachieved a major breakthrough in 1915when he was taken on by LondonUnderground. As the Vorticist painterWyndham Lewis stated: "The tunnels ofthe 'Tube' became thenceforth hissubterranean picture galleries." It wasalso Lewis who coined the phrase 'ThePoster King' to describe Kauffer. At thistime Kauffer's influences were Van Goghand Fauvism, as revealed in two earlyposters promoting visits to Oxhey Woodsand Watford, in which trees with blue orblack foliage fringed with gold castshadows across sulphur-yellow paths. Contact with the Vorticist group led toa significant stylistic shift in Kauffer'swork, whereby the painterly, figurativelanguage of his early imagery wasincreasingly invaded by the hard-edgedvocabulary favoured by the movement.This can be seen in motifs such as thatof Flight - Kauffer's most famous image,and subsequently adopted for the DailyHerald newspaper - as well as a workpromoting Vigil Silk. During the 1930s Kauffer's main patronwas Shell-Mex - the combined publicityarm of both Shell and BP - and theexhibition includes images from this series.Often drawing on Surrealist influencesand iconography, the works of theseyears also saw Kaufferreturn to a more'painterly' style, as in his 1938 poster forLondon Undergroundentitled Howbravely Autumn paints upon the sky. Although Kauffer was by now animportant part of the British artisticestablishment, joining the Victoria andAlbert Museum's Advisory Council in1935, he found work increasingly difficultto come by as the nation slid towardswar, and in 1940 he returned to Americawith his second wife, Marion Dorn.There, he worked for clients such as the publisher Random House andAmerican Airlines. A fresh, breezy imageof sailing boats dating from 1950,advertising flights to Chicago, is typicalof Kauffer's late work. However, his finalyears were marked by personal sadnessand a sense of disorientation that arosefrom feelings of being torn between hisstatus as an American citizen and hislove for England. Kauffer died in NewYork in 1954. The Poster King: Edward McKnightKauffer; Estorick Collection ofModern Italian Art; 14 September -18 December 2011; Tel: 020 7704 9522,www.estorickcollection.com ESTORICK COLLECTIONNADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 201157

Call of the wildThe Hebrides in the 1700s were something of a wilderness,but this did not deter James Boswell and his friend Dr Samuel Johnson. Peter Martinleads us through thefascinating milestones of their literary tour and highlightssome treasures the modern-day traveller treading in theirfootsteps can expect to find todayTRAVEL/TOURSPlease ensure you always quote 'NADFAS' when booking with our travel affiliates in order to receive any relevant discounts