Hans Rudi Erdt

Hans Rudi Erdt (31 March 1883 – 24 May 1918)[1][2] was a German graphic designer, lithographer and commercial artist known for his contributions to the Sachplakat movement created by Lucian Bernhard.[3][4][5] His work at the prestigious Hollerbaum und Schmidt art printing company along with Edmund Edel, Hans Lindenstadt, Julius Klinger, Julius Gipkens, Paul Scheurich and Karl Schulpig[6] make him one of the most important representatives of German poster art between 1906 and 1918.[7][8][9] Erdt has also been recognized for his innovative use of typography in posters.[10]

Hans Rudi Erdt
Erdt advertisement poster for Opel Racing, 1911
Born	(1883-03-31)31 March 1883 Benediktbeuern, Bavaria
Died	24 May 1918(1918-05-24) (aged 35) Berlin
Nationality	German
Occupation	Graphic designer, lithographer
Known for	Sachplakat movement, poster propaganda, advertising

Life and work

Born in Benediktbeuern, Bavaria,[11] he trained as a lithographer and became a student of Maximilian Dasio at the Munich School of Applied Arts. He joined Hollerbaum und Schmidt around 1908, becoming part of the "Berlin School",[12] where he created what is considered one of the most enduring examples of Sachplakat, an advertisement for the nascent racing division of the Opel car manufacturer.[8][13] During World War I he created propaganda posters for the German State Film Committee,[14][15][16][17] as well as promotional posters for propaganda films,[18] some of which, like U Boote Heraus! became quite famous at the time.[19][20]

His advertising work varied, from Nivea[21][22] to illustrated weekly newspapers such as Die Woche,[23] tourism and travel events[24] and tobacco companies such as Batschari, Manoli and Mahala Problem.[25]

Erdt died in Berlin of tuberculosis at the age of 35.

Gallery

Advertisements

• 
  Reichs-Bücherwoche, ca. 1915.
• 
  Engelhardt Cigarettes, 1915
• 
  Batschari Mercedes Cigarettes, 1914
• 
  Batschari Jugend, 1914
• 
  Den Berliner Börsen-Courier, 1913
• 
  Münchner Kindl Keller, 1913
• 
  Mahala Problem, 1912
• 
  Never fail, 1911
• 
  Manoli, 1911
• 
  Moslem Cigarettes, 1908
• 
  Maxim Bar, 1907
• 
  Herkomer Race, 1907

World War I film propaganda posters

• 
  Hell fight on the Aisne River
• 
  The Great Battle in France
• 
  U Boote Heraus!
• 
  Der Frieden mit der Ukraine, 1918
• 
  Bei Unseren Blaujacken, 1917

Notes

1. A few German sources place Erdt's death in different years: Alexander Kauther - 1925; the German National Library - 1924. The most commonly used date is 1918
2. "ULAN Full Record Display (Getty Research) - Hans Rudi Erdt". Union List of Artist Names. Getty. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
3. Consuegra, p. 1924
4. Vit, p. 11
5. de Jong, p. 42
6. Moore, p. 98-99
7. Meggs, p. 1954
8. Eskilson, p. 112
9. "Hans Rudi Erdt – Biography". Reference Center for Marxist Studies. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
10. Diagram Group, p. 281
11. Meissner, p. 307
12. Aynsley, p. 78
13. Raimes, p. 34
14. Eskilson, p. 131
15. Seidman, p. 20
16. Heyman, p. 91
17. Ronge, p. 417
18. "Hans Rudi Erdt: Biography". Spartacus Educational. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
19. Welch, p. 131
20. "U Boote Heraus! [The U-boats Are Out!]". London: Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
21. Jones, p. 57-8
22. Tungate, p. 90
23. Weill, p. 102
24. Joachim-Felix, p. 991
25. Aynsley, p. 81

Bibliography

• Meggs, Philip B.; Purvis, Alston W. (2011). Meggs' History of Graphic Design (5th Edition eBook ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118017760. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Eskilson, Stephen (2007). Graphic Design: A New History (Illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300120110. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Aynsley, Jeremy (2000). Graphic Design in Germany: 1890-1945. Volume 28 of Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism Series. Wolfsonian-Florida International University. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520227965. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Meissner, Jörg (2004). Strategien der Werbekunst 1850-1933 (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Kettler. ISBN 9783937390222. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Vit, Armin; Gomez Palacio, Bryony (2011). Graphic Design Referenced: A Visual Guide to Language, Applications, and History of Graphic Design (Illustrated ed.). Rockport Publishers. ISBN 9781592537426. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Seidman, Steven A. (2008). Posters, Propaganda, & Persuasion in Election Campaigns Around the World and Through History. Peter Lang. ISBN 9780820486161. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Consuegra, David (2004). American Type Design and Designers. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. ISBN 9781581153200. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• de Jong, C.W.; Purvis, A.W.; Friedl, Friedrich (2005). Creative Type / druk 1: a sourcebook of classic and contemporary letterforms. R. Vatter-Buck (translator). Inmerc. ISBN 9789066112506. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Jones, Geoffrey (2010). Beauty Imagined:A History of the Global Beauty Industry. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191609619. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Tungate, Mark (2011). Branded Beauty: How Marketing Changed the Way We Look. Kogan Page Publishers. ISBN 9780749461829. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Lettering & Calligraphy Workbook. Diagram Group. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. 2006. ISBN 9781402741012. Retrieved 2012-12-06.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Heyman, Neil M. (1997). World War I (eBook ed.). Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313298806. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Moore, Colin (2010). Propaganda Prints: A history of art in the service of social and political change. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408105917. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Welch, David (2000). Germany, Propaganda and Total War, 1914-1918: The Sins of Omission. Rutgers Depth of Field. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 9780813527987.
• Weill, Alain (1985). The poster: a worldwide survey and history. G.K. Hall. ISBN 9780816187461. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Joachim-Felix, Leonhardt; Hans-Werner, Ludwig; Schwarze, Dietrich; Stra Ner, Erich (1999). Medienwissenschaft: Ein Handbuch Zur Entwicklung Der Medien und Kommunikationsformen (in German). Volume 1. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110139617. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Raimes, Jonathan; Bhaskaran, Lakshmi (2007). Retro Graphics: A Visual Sourcebook to 100 Years of Graphic Design. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9780811855082. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
• Ronge, Tobias (2010). Das Bild des Herrschers in Malerei und Grafik des Nationalsozialismus: Eine Untersuchung zur Ikonografie von Führer- und Funktionärsbildern im Dritten Reich (in German). Volume 89 of Kunstgeschichte. Westfalen: LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 9783643108562.

External links

• Ausstellungskatalog DHM: Kunst! Kommerz! Visionen! - Exhibition website (in German)
• World Catalog publications
• Erdt, Hans Rudi Digitized poster collection at the Library of Congress