E. McKnight Kauffer’s ‘Soaring to Success’ (1919)

E. McKnight Kauffer (American, active in England. 1890–1954)
Top section of three-part poster:
Soaring to Success! Daily Herald—the Early Bird, 1919
Lithograph, 39 1/8 x 59 1/4” (99.5 x 150.6 cm)

This image is derived from Flight, a woodcut Kauffer made in 1916. The design was purchased by the printer Francis Meynell, who used it in a poster campaign to launch the Labour Party newspaper The Daily Herald on March 31, 1919. The poster was issued in two formats: one in two sheets with seven birds; another in three sheets with eight birds.

This is the top third of the three-sheet version. This particular example was lent by the artist to the exhibition Posters by E. McKnight Kauffer, The Museum of Modern Art, New York (February 10–March 7, 1937) and subsequently acquired by the Museum. It was later acquired by the Merrill C. Berman Collection by exchange. An example of the full three-sheet poster belongs to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and is pictured below.

For our publication on Kauffer, please click here. For our online shows on the artist, see Part I: The London Years and Part II: Shell Oil and Return to America.

E. McKnight Kauffer
Soaring to Success!—The Early Bird, 1918-1919 (made), early 1919 (issued)
Lithograph, 117 x 59” (297.7 x 152.2 cm)
Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Given by Ogilvy Benson & Mather Ltd (E.35-1973)

November 3, 2026