During the 1910s and '20s, Bernhard executed at least a dozen designs for Manoli, a Berlin-based cigarette factory founded in 1894 by Jakob Mandelbaum. This is a quintessential example of Bernhard's characteristic Sachplakat aesthetic, in which the image is diluted down to its most vital components: the brand name and the product sitting against a deep black background. But rather than coming off as stark, the image is coyly enticing: a chic flip-top deck presents its pleasures while a single cigarette teeters off the edge, beckoning the nicotine lover to indulge.
Hollerbaum & Schmidt, Berlin
literature: DFP-III, 188; Modern Poster, 64; Avant Garde, 19; Le Coultre, p. 198; Masters 1900, p. 157; Plakatkunst, p. 65; Encyclopédie/Weill, p. 166; Kunst Kommerz, p. 19; PAI-LXXXIII, 216
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