Brochure: Nutricia, 100% Soluble Milkpowder
(sole importer P. v. Berkel, Rotterdam), c. 1928
Halftone lithograph, 14 1/2  x 11 3/4” (37 x 30 cm)

The November 1928 issue of the Dutch avant-garde journal Internationale Revue i10 published a two-page spread by Paul Schuitema in which he compared Dutch advertising of “yesterday” (gisteren) with that of “today” (vandaag). “Yesterday” was represented by the ornate typography of the journal Wendingen; “today” by photomontages, including Schuitema’s own Nutricia.

Two years later, in the landmark 1930 book Gefesselter Blick: 25 kurze Monografien und Beiträge über neue Werbegestaltung (Captivated Gaze: 25 Short Monographs and Statements on New Advertising Design), Schuitema presented examples of his recent commercial work over eight pages. His selection included materials created for the Rotterdam companies P. Van Berkel and C. Chevalier, among others. These designs, alongside additional pieces by Schuitema, appear below.  

A comprehensive publication of the more than 150 posters, photographs, books, and printed matter by Schuitema in the collection is currently in preparation.

P. Van Berkel, Rotterdam
(meat exporter and manufacturer of slicing machines and weighing scales)

Shop display card: Superior Dutch Ham, P. van Berkel, Rotterdam, c. 1925
Letterpress on board with cord, 19 3/4 × 19 7/8″ (50.2 x 50.5 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Product label: Berkel Slicing Machine Oil,  c. 1928
Letterpress on coated paper, 5 13/16 x 11 5/8” (14.8 x 29.7 cm)
[Gefesselter Blick 1930, repr. p. 85]

Holiday cards: A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year,
P. Van Berkel, Rotterdam, 1928
Left: Halftone lithograph, 4 13/16 x 5 15/16” (12 x 15.1 cm)
[i10 (15 November 1928), variant repr. p. 77]
Right: Halftone lithograph, 5 7/8 x 4 3/4” (14.9 x 12.2 cm)
[Gefesselter Blick 1930, repr. p. 86]

Left: Brochure: Toledo Berkel Express Weighing Machines, 1927
Letterpress and offset (20 pp.), 7 7/8 x 5 1/2" (20 x 14 cm)
[Gefesselter Blick 1930, repr. p. 82]
Right: Flyer: Berkel Contest, Hit the Highest, 1928
Halftone lithograph, 11 3/4 x 8 3/8” (30 x 21.5 cm)
[Gefesselter Blick 1930, repr. p. 86]

C. Chevalier, Rotterdam (printer)

Advertising cards, C. Chevalier, Rotterdam, 1929
Left: Labels for Cans, Boxes, Bottles
Halftone lithograph and letterpress, 8 1/8 x 5 13/16” (20.8 x 15 cm)
[Gefesselter Blick 1930, repr. p. 80]
Right: Book, Stone, Steel & Offset Printer
Halftone lithograph and letterpress, 8 3/16 x 5 1/16” (20.9 x 13 cm)

W. H. Gispen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris (furniture and lights)

Front and back covers: Gispen Catalogue no. 150: Giso Mirror Reflectors, 1930
Halftone lithograph, 8 5/16 x 11 5/8” (21.3 x 29.5 cm), open

Posters

Poster: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture: Work in the IBK-TW Academy (December 25-31, 1927), 1927
Letterpress, 39 1/4 x 27 9/16″ (99.7 x 70 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Poster: Central Union 30,000 Transport Workers, Transport Workers’ Union, 1930
Lithograph, 47 3/4 × 31 1/2″ (121.3 x 80 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Poster: Support the Work of the A.N.V.V. (Dutch Association of Tourist Offices), Buy A.N.V.V. Postage Stamps, 1932
Offset lithograph, 11 1/4 x 13 5/8” (28.5 x 34.8 cm)

Journals

Left: Filmliga, Jg. 5, no. 11 (15 September 1932).
Cover image: Germaine Krull Sound Studio.
Halftone lithograph, 11 1/2 x 8 1/8” (29.2 x 20.6 cm)
[Schuitema’s templates for the covers of Filmliga
were employed between 1931 and 1934.]
Right: De 8 en Opbouw, no. 17 (17 August 1935).
Special issue: Theo Van Doesburg (1883–1931)
Halftone lithograph, 11 3/8 x 8 3/4” (29 x 22.2 cm)
[Schuitema’s template for the cover of De 8 en Opbouw’s
was employed from 1932.]

Photographs

Pins, 1928 or 1929 (image)
Gelatin silver print (period copy print), 7 1/8 x 9 1/2” (18.1 x 24 cm)

Untitled (self-portrait), c. 1930
Gelatin silver print, 9 5/8 × 7 1/8″ (24.4 x 18.1 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Museum of Modern Art, New York
[As a member of the Ring “neue Werbegestalter,” Schuitema organized the important exhibition Tentoonstelling van Internationaal Reclame Drukwerk Foto’s Fotomontages, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (June 20-July 12, 1931) and designed the poster, upon which this self-portrait was reproduced.]

November 2, 2021