Flora turpentine soap paper fan

Hungarian title:

Flora terpentin szappan papír legyező

Artist:

Irsai István

Size:

Non-standard size

Year:

1930s

Condition:

Fine, light wear.

Material:

Paper, stone lithography.

Price: US$800

Description:

Modernist promotional material by István Irsai or Pesach Ir-Shay who was an important poster designer and architect in Hungary and in Israel. Irsai’s original style makes him one of the greatest masters of modernist-constructivist poster art.

The concept of using a fan as a commercial medium for a soap was a clever idea as that both the soap and the fan are associated freshness.

Irsai applied Hungarian folk motives on the lower part of the composition what was typical of Art Deco style. The top part is physically separated from the bottom part by the text on a stripe and also by graphical means: in contrast with the lower part, the top is stylized and clean. The two identical blond girls are wearing white dress with black dots and are holding a wooden tub filled up with water and Flora soap ready to do the washing. The typography is the same as that of the brand what was applied in all Flora turpentine soap advertisements. Like on the majority of Flora soap ads, the axonometric depiction of the product itself also appears.

A little rhyme on the top and the back side made the brand name stuck in the audience's head: 'Okos legyen, Florát vegyen' (what literally means: be smart, buy Flóra)

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