Vintage Poster Archives
David Klein TWA New York 1956 | Vintage Airline Poster
David Klein TWA New York 1956 | Vintage Airline Poster
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Times Square is reduced to pure geometry: columns of overlapping rectangles in yellow, magenta, red, cyan and teal lean inward from both sides of a deep black ground, converging on a central vertical shaft of violet-blue light. White starburst sparkles scatter across the composition at every level, reading simultaneously as neon signs, car headlights and the reflected glitter of a city that never dims. At the top, a turquoise jet silhouette crosses a thin vapour line beneath the slate-blue 'NEW YORK' headline. The red 'TWA' below it is the only other flat-colour accent not claimed by the cityscape.
David Klein designed this poster for Trans World Airlines in 1956. Trained at the Art Center School in Los Angeles and already well established as a Broadway illustrator, Klein worked in overlapping planes of transparent gouache to translate the sensory overload of Times Square into a single, legible image. Klein (1918–2005) produced dozens of TWA city posters between approximately 1955 and 1965, each applying the same method: abstract colour planes, minimal type, one small aircraft in the corner. The New York design was the template the entire series followed. The Museum of Modern Art acquired it for its permanent collection in 1957, the year after its issue. In November 2025, a first-printing example sold at Swann Galleries, New York for $25,400, the highest auction price ever recorded for Klein's work.
This restored reproduction is printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper, preserving the flat-colour planes and absolute black ground that define the composition. The design sits in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum collection as well as MoMA and the Library of Congress.
A reference point for collectors of American mid-century graphic design, for aviation history enthusiasts, and for those who want New York's most distilled portrait on a wall.
