Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

 

 

Italian Art Nouveau – Mario Borgoni, 1923

 

 

 

The defining art of posters  

 

Poster art has been a mainstay for defining cultural trends and styles, especially since the beginning of the 20th century. It was quickly recognized that minimal, striking designs with succinct messages and slogans, reinforced with a symbol, had the incisive power to penetrate the mass consciousness and market. Repetitive visual application went a long way to establishing a brand and building sales. The growing industrialization nourished increasing consumerism and advertising budgets which led to greater investment in the quality of artistic design and production of posters. Advertisers became highly motivated to research the foibles and attractions towards the purchasing habits of the public and learn how to capture their imagination.

 

‘Circuit de Milan, Monza’, 1922  Poster by Aldo Mazza

 

Prior to the emergence of the electronic media, posters had become one of the premium mediums in marketing and were one of the first forms of invasive mass advertising where the audience was confronted with the message irrespective of their interest. Posters became a powerful means for reinforcing design trends and even establishing them. The most poignant visual elements of a particular genre were extracted by advertising designers and utilized for marketing.

The contemporary poster had its genesis back in the 1840s and 1850s when the printing industry perfected colour lithography and made mass production possible. Advertisers began to market mass-produced consumer goods to a growing populace in urban areas and by the 1890s, the technique had spread throughout Europe. A number of noted French artists created poster art in this period, foremost amongst them were Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Chéret, Eugène Grasset, Adolphe Willette, Pierre Bonnard, Louis Anguetin, Georges de Feure and Henri-Gabriel Ibels. Alfred Mucha helped launch the Art Nouveau movement with his Sarah Bernhardt Gismonda poster, which was an overnight success. Gradually more textural and graphic elements were introduced into poster art, along with bolder colour palettes. Tight deadlines and lower budget posters, restricted to one or two colours, led to a greater emphasis being placed on design and graphics, to maximize visual impact. This led to a new wave of artistic presentation with minimalized design, which had a natural symbiosis with simplified modernist trends that were evolving at the beginning of the century.
Politics also exploited the market penetration of posters and along with flyers became an effective means for revolutionaries to be heard, which was exemplified with their use in stirring up negative sentiment against the aristocracy during the French Revolution and was also widely used by the Bolshevics with their constuctivist posters. The growth of the movie industry at this time also led to the elaborate sized posters being developed for promotions.
As a means for discovering insights into the popular trends of the last 175 years, the poster has provided a vivid encapsulation and record of the potent visuals through different eras. The spread of new art movements were greatly enhanced by the adaption of artists to express themselves through this medium.

 

 

1939 World Fair – Rocketman

 

 

 

Swiss poster by Carl Moos

1910

Pullman Gallery

 

 

Vanity Fair Cover October 1924 Poster Print by William Bolin at the Condé Nast Collection

 

 

 

Italian Bugatti sports car poster, 1910

 

 

 

‘Le Sourire’ magazine

1933

 

 

The Black Cat movie poster

1950

 

 

 

Vogue magazine “Jazz Age” cover – William Bolin

 1900

perpetual purveyors of style

 

 

Art Deco poster print

1930’s

 

 

Abstract poster 1954 – Le Corbusier

 

 

‘Bauhaus Nude’ – Sharkaholic

Deviant Art

 

 

 

New Orleans Jazz Festival – James Michalopoulos

Art4Now – 2001

 

 

 

30’s Telefunken Art Deco

 

 

Anis Del Tigre, Spain

 

 

Cafe Nitro by Michael L. Kungl

 

 

‘Models for the costumes of a ballet’  by Anatol Petrytzky

Avant Garde, Bauhaus inspired ballet costume designs by Anatol Petrytzky circa 1920s

 

 

 

“A Delightful Page In The Record of My Existence.” – Cardwell Higgins

Aubrey Beardsley / Harry Clarke inspired fantasy scene from c.1928

1st Dibs   Grapefruit Moon Gallery

 

 

 

Poster by Jean Chassaing, advertising ‘La Ligne Aurore’, a line of women’s shoes

1920’s

Sarah Stocking Fine Antique Posters

 

 

Jazz Age Cotton Club poster for revue ‘Rhyth Mania’ – 1931

 

 

 Poster Print by Eduardo Garcia Benito

Vogue Cover  October 1931 – Condé Nast Collection

 

 

 

“Treacherous Waters” by Victo Ngai

 

 

 

Distillerie Italiane Art Nouveau poster

1899

 

 

‘Egyptian Night’  – Maxfield Parish Egyptomania

 

 

 Revista De Revistas –  Ernesto (El Chango) Garcia Cabral

Mexico, 1920s

 

 

 Ertre aka Romain de Tirtoff

 

 

Erte – Romain de Tirtoff

1912

 

 

Mexican Illustrator  Ernesto Garcia Cabral (el-chango) for Revista De Revistas magazine

 

 

 

French Spa of Eugénie les Bains in the French Pyrénées – Bernard Villemot

 1988

 

 

Italian Art Deco Lithographic poster – Marcello Dudvich

1934

 

 

‘Danzatrici lunari’ (Moon Dance) – Fortunato Depero – Italian Futurism

1946

 

 

2005 Art Deco style poster

 

 

Roaring Twenties by Gerda Wegener ( watercolor)

1928

 

 

 Revista De Revistas –  Ernesto (El Chango) Garcia Cabral

 

 

 

German Art Deco Spa poster

 

 

Retro Art Deco – Ichiro Tsuruta

 

 

Illustration by Cheri Herouard For La Vie Parisienne

January 1929

 

 

‘Descent’ – Dorte Clara Wolff (dodo)

1929

 

 

Mexican Tourist Association poster

 

 

 

Illustration by George Barbier For La Vie Parisienne 1918

 

 

 

‘That’s Shanghai’ – Kim Xu

 

 

Illustration by George Leonnec For La Vie Parisienne

November 1922

 

 

King Kong poster – La Boca, UK

 

 

French Art deco poster

 

 

 

Lilian Bond –  photo by Elmer Fryer

1930s

 

 

Vogue Cover Poster Print by Pierre Mourgue at the Condé Nast Collection

  November 1933

 

 

 

Egyptian Revival ‘Nerma Cigarettes’ poster

 

 

‘Dallas Rising’ – Nick Gaetano

 

 

La Meuse French beer

 

 

 

French fashion illustrator Rene Gruau

 

 

Image by Eileen Mayo (1906-1994) featuring traditional artwork and symbols from the Dreamtime stories of an emu and an Indigenous Aboriginal Australian wearing corroboree head-dress

 

 

French Peugeot motorcycle poster

 

 

 Illustrator Rene Gruau

 

 

Africanism poster

 

 

Art Nouveau poster – Ramon Casas, Barcelona

 

 

‘Reine De Joie,’ (queen of joy) – French Belle Époque Period Poster by Toulouse-Lautrec

1892

Colletti Gallery

 

 

Soviet constructivist style poster with retro robot – Zoki Cardula

 

 

Cubano Del Turismo poster

 

 

Jean Carlu Art Deco poster of comedienne, Pepa Bonafe, using the image of the two theater masks (comedy and tragedy) and the performer’s profile.

1930

Sarah Stocking Fine Antique Posters

 

 

 

Art Nouveau – Alexandre Steinlen Motocycles Comiot

 

 

TWA travel poster

 

 

1964 Soviet Space Propaganda Poster: USSR Birthplace Of Cosmonautics

1964

 

 

Vanity Fair cover – William Bolin

1927

 

 

Italian Vespa poster

 

 

Havana Bistro Cuban poster

Artist Kyla Evans

 

 

Dodo Burgner ‘Frauchens Liebling’ (Favourite Mistress)

1929

 

 

Vogue cover by  William Bolin

 

 

Italian Futurist  Aviation Poster by Luigi Martinati

-1933-

Colletti Gallery

 

 

Fine art giclee print of a vintage French travel poster featuring travel to Bagneres de Luchon by Jules Cheret. Celebrated for its total of forty eight thermal springs.

 

 

Paul Colin art deco Peugeot poster

 

 

Science Fiction Neptune travel poster

 

 

 

La Petite Robe Noire Couture Perfume

 

 

 

Retro 50’s poster Spanish designer, Fantastic Hysteria

 

 

 

 

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