New York Holland Amerika Line

This sleek image is an example of Art Deco styling at its most refined. Created in 1938 by Willem Ten Broek for the Holland-America shipping line, this is the Dutch version of the poster. A massive boat from the company’s fleet enters New York Harbor with its impressive skyscrapers on full display. The iconic Trylon and Persisphere, symbols of the 1939 World’s Fair, are sandwiched between the harbor and the boat. Created as the world began its entrance to WWII, the 1939 World’s Fair was dubbed "The World of Tomorrow" and was a major tourism event for New York City until the war broke out. This is a rare poster.

The 1939 World’s Fair took place in Flushing Meadows/Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. It opened on April 30th, 1939 with 206,000 people in attendance. It was at this World’s Fair that television was first introduced to the masses. The site of the fair went on to become a large public park, which later played host to the 1964 World’s Fair and the ballfield where the New York Mets play to this day.

Holland-America is a shipping and cruise company founded in 1873 that still runs today. From the beginning, the company shuttled both goods and people from Rotterdam to New York City and was a major part of the great immigration waves to America in the early 1900s. It is estimated that in its first 25 years in business, over 400,000 people took Holland-America to leave Europe for the New World. Pictured in this poster is Holland-America’s crowning jewel ship, the SS Nieuw Amsterdam. Built in 1937, this ship was one of only two ships (the other being the Queen Mary) to turn a profit in the 1930s and was considered the height of elegance.

Willem Frederick Ten Broek (1905-1993) was a Dutch artist who worked predominantly in the Art Deco style. He created many posters for Holland-America over the years.

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of all of our posters.