The Daily Valdemar No. 57: May 9

Valdemar Andersen, poster for a collection of crime short stories
by Palle Rosenkrantz, 1908.

Shown with permission from Designmuseum Danmark.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photo. It was taken by me for study purposes.

Today's moment of calm is a poster securing our attention with layers of cues to a crime.

At the very moment the murder weapon is dropped it points to the promotional specifics of the subscription on 35 booklets of crime short stories by Palle Rosenkrantz. The publisher is even solemnly promising not to trespass that number. The booklets would eventually be collected into three volumes for which Valdemar did their cover too.

The weapon is meticulously delineated to delay our noticing the clue to the composition of which all tree persons before us bear the features of the author himself. Rosenkrantz did it. He is the culprit as the narrator of them all and while we are yet again distracted by the drama in the foreground, someone is slipping away into the shadows. 

All central elements in the composition are kept in black/white, while the muted tones of the background warm the scene with the ultimate warmth and murderous cue in the full moon during which anything may take place.