This charming and colorful image of a Dutch fishing harbor was the illustration on the front cover of inflight menus for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in 1955.

The artist’s name is Jo Klingers (1933-2016). Klingers grew up in the Dutch city of Rozenprieel and studied at the Institute for Applied Arts Education in Amsterdam. He was heavily influenced by Bauhaus style, a minimalist and functional approach to art and design that originated in Germany in 1919.

After graduating cum laude in 1954, he became a cartoonist and illustrator and created this and other menu covers for KLM. He became interested in other disciplines such as architecture and interior design. He designed a beautiful stained-glass window to liven up a tax office and created sculptures out of brick and steel.

In 1970 he helped revitalize the old working-class neighborhood of Haarlem where he was born, the son of a baker. This included designing decorative paving, street signs and a playground.

Through the 90s, he was involved in numerous construction projections and is widely regarded as one of the Netherlands’ multi-talented artists.

His highly detailed and delightful illustrations for KLM, the flag carrier for the Netherlands and whose hub is Amsterdam Schiphol airport, were finely detailed, as you can see, and widely admired. Founded in 1919, KLM merged with Air France in 2003.

KLM and its partners serve 163 destinations in 70 countries on five continents and the airline has a proud tradition of showcasing the work of Dutch artists.