1927-1934

London, England

Works for Sir William Crawford’s advertising agency and develops a machine-made style, often using photomontage.

Up until this point Kauffer has borrowed from a variety of styles, including Vorticism and jazzy variations of traditional motifs. At Crawford’s he develops an interest in Russian and German photomontage. He also starts to use an airbrush, giving his pieces an air of mechanical precision. In 1929, Kauffer begins to work for Shell-Mex having been commissioned by farsighted advertising manager Jack Beddington. Clearly pleased with the results, Beddington continues to employ Kauffer on a number of Shell-Mex publicity campaigns in the next few years.