Artist: Frank Hazell
Condition: A- *
Dimensions: 26.6 x 40.6 in. / 67.5 x 103 cm.
Circa: 1927
Linen Backed
* See Condition Grading section for further details
There is restored edge and corner wear, tears, small losses; an expertly restored 6" vertical tear at the top edge near the middle and a 4" horizontal tear at the left edge about three quarters of the way down the poster; the colors are excellent and strong; this fabulous art deco railroad travel poster should display beautifully once framed.
A genuinely beautiful piece of American railway poster art. Frank Hazell renders West Point less as a promotional image and more as a Hudson River School painting; the grey granite fortress glowing in autumn light above the Hudson, sailboats drifting on deep blue water, the hillside rich with gold and orange foliage. It's atmospheric and quietly stunning.
New York Central Lines commissioned some of the finest American railway poster art of the 1920s, and this is among the most painterly examples. The subject matter, West Point, the Hudson Highlands, autumn on the river, gives it a timeless, almost nostalgic quality that sets it apart from the bolder graphic style of European posters of the same era.