Fenix Museum Acquires Rare Art Deco Poster at Auction

Fenix, the art museum focused on migration, has acquired an iconic Art Deco poster of the Rotterdamsche Lloyd at the May auctions of Venduhuis Rotterdam. The poster, designed by J.A.W. von Stein (1896–1965) and titled Rotterdamsche Lloyd Java Sumatra, dates from 1931 and is the rare large version measuring 110.5 x 63.2 cm. Multiple versions of the design exist in various sizes and language editions, but the original is well known through thousands of later reproductions. The acquisition highlights the golden age of ocean liners in the 1930s, when shipping companies competed with seductive posters by famous designers like A.M. Cassandre, whose works for the Holland America Line are noted.