HAPAG Mittelmeer- und Orientfahrten, advertising poster for the Mediterranean routes of the German shipping company HAPAG, designed by Otto Arpke. Berlin: Offsetdruck Otto Elsner, [1930s]. German.

A vividly colored printed poster depicting a small settlement on the coastline of Palestine (possibly Jaffa), with a large ship offshore and fishing boats near the coast. In the foreground, two local women are shown, one carrying a basket of fruit on her head, with palm tree branches behind them.

The transatlantic shipping company HAPAG (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft, English: Hamburg-America Line) was founded in Hamburg in 1847, operating one of the world’s largest commercial fleets, which was nearly wiped out twice – during both World Wars. The company ran passenger routes to numerous ports worldwide, including ports in the Mediterranean Sea.

Otto Arpke (Otto Arpke, 1886-1943), a German painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, born in Braunschweig. Trained in lithographic arts in Hanover, where he also studied at an art and design school; influenced by German painters such as August Schlüter, Emil Orlik, and Paul Scheurich. Served as a professor at the Kunst- und Gewerbeschule in Mainz. Arpke was renowned for his graphic works, including posters designed for Norddeutscher Lloyd and HAPAG (which merged in the 1970s to form Hapag-Lloyd AG), the poster he created for the film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", and magazine cover illustrations. He also designed elements for the interiors of the Zeppelins "Hindenburg" and "Graf Zeppelin II".

Following the Nazi rise to power, Arpke was accused of Communist sympathies and dismissed from his position in Mainz, though he later secured another post in Berlin. He was associated with a Berlin resistance group that distributed anti-Nazi leaflets, and he aided his Jewish friends in hiding and escaping Germany.

Approx. 60X85 cm. Good condition. Mounted on linen for display and preservation.