"Follow the Orders of the Civil Guard" (Hebrew), an original sketch for a poster made by Pesach Ir-Shay. [Palestine, ca. 1947].
A sketch for a poster designed by Pesach Ir-Shay for the Civil Guard, an organization that was founded in 1938 and operated in Palestine during World War II and the War of Independence.
Gouache on paper mounted on cardboard. Signed.
The graphic designer and typographer Pesach Ir-Shay (István Irsai, 1896-1968) was an important modernist graphic designers in Europe between the two world wars and one of the most important graphic designers in Israel. Ir-Shay was born in Budapest, Hungary, served in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, and after his service, studied architecture in Budapest. After his graduation, he worked as an architect and graphic designer. He designed the Hebrew font "Chaim" – a modern font that for the first time presented the Hebrew letter in its basic lines only, without decorations, while using straight lines and geometrical shapes (unlike preceding fonts that were based on traditional and biblical script). In 1925, Ir-Shay immigrated to Palestine and continued his work as graphic designer, focusing on designing posters, using the font he had designed. He was also one of the founders of the Hebrew satirical theater, "HaKumkum" (The kettle), together with Avigdor HaMeiri and Eliezer Donáth. In 1929, he returned to Hungary. The modernist posters he designed in the 1930s established him as one of the leading graphic designers of his time. With the outbreak of World War II, he remained in Budapest, suffering the horrors of the Holocaust. Ir-Shay was one of the survivors of the Kastner Train, with which he came to Bergen-Belsen, where he drew the sights of the camp. In 1945, he again immigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel-Aviv.
94.5X63.5cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Tears, open tears and holes in the margins (affecting illustration). Peeling and minor blemishes.