The WPA & the Golden Age · The American Golden Age
Harper's, May
Edward Penfield (1866-1925) · Harper & Brothers, New York, 1896
What it is
Edward Penfield made a poster a month for Harper's through the 1890s, and this May 1896 lithograph is a clean example of the house style he invented: broad flat planes of color, a firm contour line, and a single figure caught mid-gesture with no background to explain them.
Why it matters
The sheet is small by poster standards - the Met records the print at roughly 17 3/4 by 11 7/8 inches - because it was made for shop windows and newsstands rather than hoardings. Penfield's restraint is what separated American poster design from the busier French sheets of the same decade.
What to notice
Penfield's monthly Harper's placard - flat color, hard outline, and a reader who never looks up.
The years America learned to argue, sell, and dream in ink.
Provenance
- School
- The American Golden Age — the Poster before 1931 (United States)
- Designer
- Edward Penfield (1866-1925)
- Format
- Advertising poster
- Poster published
- Harper & Brothers, New York, 1896
- Source
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 1984.1202.88
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
