“Gefeliciteerd Jan de Hartog” poster
Congratulations
Jan de Hartog
on your 60th birthday…
…and thank you for all your fine books
Johannes (Jan) de Hartog (Haarlem, 1914 – Houston, 2002) was a Dutch writer of novels, plays and film scripts who made his name primarily with novels about shipping.
The occasion and the subject of this poster (1180 × 830 mm) are clear, just as the typeface: Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed. Designer and client are unknown. At the time, De Hartog was in a particularly turbulent phase in a life that could be described as restless in both family life and his literary career. In the years before the poster, he had released his latest novel, Children of the Light / The Peacable Kingdom which was nominated for the Nobel Prize (1971/72); a movie about his house boat debuted in the US. The year after his 60th birthday, he would release two more novels.
