Poster
The ancestors of modern posters were alba - bills or notifications, which were installed like posts or screens in the streets of ancient Rome. In Middle Ages this tradition disappeared and began to revive with the development of cities. Political posters with caricatures came to life during Napoleon times. In 1830-1840s this kind of propaganda art connected the elements of literature and visual art together. Later the invention of coloured lithography improved the quality of posters. So, some famous artists (P. Gavarni, G. Dore, J.-I. Granville) paid attention to this field of art. In the bookshop windows one could see the posters advertising the publications of new books and journals. In 1848 in Germany the poster "Combatant Leaflet" depicted the fight between democracy and reaction.

In the late XIXth century J. Chere worked out the method of architectonics (laconism, conciseness of idea, a generalized and rhythmic sign), thus, the great possibilities of posters were understood. In that time A. Toulouse-Lautrec and A. Steinlein drew some humorous and to some extent grotesque theatrical posters.

The artists of German magazine "Simplitsissimus" T.-T. Heine and E. Pretorius did much to develop the art of poster in early XXth century. Besides, E. Pretorius founded a school of book illustration in Munich, in 1909. In 1920-1930-s G. Gross worked much at satiric social poster.("Motherland Guarantees you Gratitude", 1924).

After the Second World War (1939-1945) the art of poster was depressed because of the wide spread of photography. By 1960-1970s a new generation of French artists had brought some new ideas into the art of poster and founded their school. The most famous were the humorous posters by R. Savignyac, metaphorical ones by J.-M. Fologne and J.-A. Cardonne, and also those by J. Effel, who drew a lot of bills to annual holidays and meetings, posters to advertise ball pens.

Polish artists had no censorship, and the creation of posters was generously financed (even the first museum of poster was opened), so the artists could have established their own school of poster. The most distinguished poster artists are X. Tomashevsky - a master of graphic joke; Vishnevsky and F. Staroveisky - followers of surrealistic style; A. Chechot, R. Tseslevich, V. Svezhi, and some others.

It seems that there is nothing to be forgotten in the art of poster; different schools, styles are reviving all the time. Nowadays one can see a lot of posters designed by computers; many artists are under the influence of computer technologies, but not a single computer has a sense of humour, so only caricaturists create humorous posters.
 


1. Poster. Detail. Poland. Early XIXth century.


2. Detail of a New Paris Circus Bill.


3. T.T. Heine. Advertisement of cars. Early the XXth century.


4. R. Savignyak. Coca-Cola is the Best Tonic. 1949.


5. R. Savignyak. Maggi - Best Soup Meat. 1960.


6. A. Fransois. Film Poster. 1970.


7. Sh. Fukuda. Poster of His Own Exhibition.


8. S. Edrichevichus. Theatrical Poster. 1990.

  


By Dmitry Moskin
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