Rare Posters 
12 November 2024
Rare Posters 
559

Stephen Frykholm b.1942

Herman Miller Picnic: 22 Posters

1970-1989 each: 39½ h × 25 w in (100 × 63 cm)
estimate: $20,000–26,000
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Frykholm, who became Herman Miller's first internal graphic designer in 1970, is internationally recognized as one of the great graphic artists of the past fifty years. In his first year on the job, he produced the company's summer picnic poster—an image that received such a warm response that it became a tradition. Each announces the annual event in a series of images highlighting various aspects of summertime food. They are all clean, bold, and bright examples of American Pop Art. This is a rare complete run of the series. These picnic posters are in the permanent collection of more than a dozen museums worldwide. This may well be your last chance to collect the entire series.
Lot is composed of twenty-two posters; hand-signed to twenty examples 'Stephen Frykholm'.
literature: Modern American Poster, 174-179; PAI-LXXVII, 221

This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.

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Frykholm, who became Herman Miller's first internal graphic designer in 1970, is internationally recognized as one of the great graphic artists of the past fifty years. In his first year on the job, he produced the company's summer picnic poster—an image that received such a warm response that it became a tradition. Each announces the annual event in a series of images highlighting various aspects of summertime food. They are all clean, bold, and bright examples of American Pop Art. This is a rare complete run of the series. These picnic posters are in the permanent collection of more than a dozen museums worldwide. This may well be your last chance to collect the entire series.

Every Day's a Picnic

Herman Miller Summer Picnic Posters by Stephen Frykholm

For 20 years, graphic designer Steven Frykholm created Herman Miller's annual company picnic poster. The bold and colorful designs are festive celebrations of summer and its seasonal attributes such as watermelon, sweet corn, ice cream and more. 

In 1970, Herman Miller offered the young Cranbrook graduate a position as the company’s first in-house graphic designer. Frykholm accepted and went to work immediately on his first assignment, designing the poster for Herman Miller’s annual company picnic. Frykholm's impressive tenure at the company – nearly 50 years – stands as a testament to his exceptional creativity and singular design aesthetic.

Today, Frykholm's posters can be found in several museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Read more about Frykholm and the picnic posters.

A good poster—a poster that is really communicating an idea—is still relevant. There are so many different kinds of posters: informational posters, promotional posters, commemorative posters. To me, a poster is really nothing more than a postage stamp, except big. And I think posters should be large.

Stephen Frykholm

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