The Subway Sun/The Cloisters
Artist
Fred Cooper
United States, 1883 - 1962
Date1938
MediumOffset Lithograph
Dimensions16 x 22 1/2 in. (40.6 x 57.2 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8049
DescriptionThe Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) opened New York City’s original underground subway line in October 1904. In order to entice people to regularly use the subway, the IRT printed two in-car poster campaigns, The Elevated Express and The Subway Sun, that highlighted each borough’s unique attractions.This edition of The Subway Sun, designed by Fred Cooper, advertises the Met Cloisters. The Cloisters opened in 1938, the year this poster was printed. To entice visitors, Cooper depicts a stylish couple stepping out of contemporary dress into medieval clothing (the man's fedora becomes a Tudor flat cap and the woman's day dress morphs into a Burgundian gown) as they approach the museum. The arcade surrounding the central garden and its eight-sided fountain wrapped in pink marble is known as the Cuxa Cloister and is the centerpiece of the museum.
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