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How Poster Art Began
Signs of the Times magazine; April, 1953 issue, pp 34
By J. I. Biegeleisen
Our history of poster art begins in the 1870s. It begins with the
work of the French poster designers Cheret, Steinlen and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Although signs, trademarks, and other commercial designs have been
used for centuries, poster art as we know it today did not emerge
as a distinct form until the last lap of the century.
Inscriptions, sings and posters share a common historical heritage.
Broadly speaking, the art of pictorial design can be traced back
to remote antiquity, to the early attempts of man to record (by
means of painted or incised pictures) his impressions of the daily
events of his harried existence. In the absence of a formal language,
a picture or symbol became a ready vehicle of expression. Records
remain which stand out as mute evidence of the urge of even the
most primitive of the human species to grope for articulation through
drawing. The work of the primitive artist was prompted, in the main,
by this desire for self-expression, and indirectly served as a pictorial
diary of his thoughts, activities and superstition.
On the rugged walls of his abode, the cave dweller projected his
impressions of the gods he worshipped and feared, he recorded his
prowess as a warrior, and his supremacy over bird and beast. These
wall decorations may be classed as posters, if the purpose of a
poster is merely to convey a thought through conscious design. The
narrower concept of poster art, however, limits the definition of
a poster to a publicly-displayed design that is intended for commerce
and industry. It therefore becomes an academic question whether
or not the creative endeavors of the cave dweller should be alluded
to as poster art.
Scanning the cavalcade of centuries as we approach the Christian
era, we begin to find in the art of the Assyrians, the Babylonians,
Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, something which approximates the poster
form as we know it today. Fragmentary wall excavations from the
petrified ashes of Pompeii disclose the fact that art in those days
served more than as a graphic record of events and impressions;
posters had become a widely used medium for disseminating specific
information to the populace. In ancient Greece, outdoor posters
were displayed at marketplaces, in the Forum, and wherever else
people were wont to gather, announcing new laws and bearing other
public proclamations. Roman signboards advertised coming gladiatorial
contests, public baths, theatrical performances and slave marts,
and featured other announcements reflecting the interests and activities
of the time.
With the rise of Christianity came the extended use of signs and
poster as a means of spreading the Gospel. The blessings of Heaven
and the curse of Hell became very real to the illiterate, who learned
the teachings of Christianity not only through inspired sermons,
but also through dramatized pictures on walls and banners.
After civilization's slumber through the Dark Ages, came the Renaissance
period, with its renewed intellectual activity and its corresponding
revival of commerce and industry. In the competition for trade,
merchants inaugurated the custom of distributing advertising handbills
and displaying poster and signs in busy thoroughfares. Picturesque
signboards bearing trademarks and inscriptions were put up to identify
the silversmith, the apothecary, the innkeeper and other business
establishments.
As an intellectual curio, it may be of interest to note that advertising
took on another form at about this time. The town crier, forerunner
of the modern radio announcer, came into being. In a melodious chant
the town crier sang the praises of his sponsor's wares as he carried
his portly figure through the narrow street of Paris and London.
After a while, this practice became so widespread that it was necessary
to pass legislation regulating the activities of these hundreds
of walking advertisements.
The year 1440 is of special significance in the history of poster
making. Prior to this time, the quantity of posters and signs that
could be produced was limited to the number that could be painted
by hand or printed from hand-cut woodblocks or stencils. With the
invention of movable type, the complexion of advertising was changed
from a limited output to quantity production. Whereas the exact
year of the discovery of movable type will forever remain a matter
of dispute among historians and printing authorities, we shall not
enter the controversy here. Let us accept 1440 as the year in which
Johann Gutenberg revealed to the people of Mainz and to the world
at large, the astonishingly simple fact that the various characters
of the alphabet could be cut in separate little blocks and spaced
together to compose words and sentences.
Heretofore, an entire page of reading matter was cut out of and
printed from a single woodblock. The block, which took much time
and great skill to cut, became useless after the edition for which
it was intended was completed. Individual type units comprising
the letters of the alphabet, Gutenberg demonstrated, could be re-used
and recombined indefinitely.
This idea raised printing from the level of an artist's tedious
handicraft to the art of a practical commercial process. The introduction
of movable type and the subsequent development and improvement in
printing presses has an immeasurable effect on culture and civilization,
advancing at the same time the technique of poster reproduction.
In 1796, with the discovery of the lithographic process by Alois
Senefelder, the production of posters in color was further advanced.
Though designs could be reproduced in color with handcut wood blocks
and stencils, (indeed, many fine examples remain to attest to that
art), the lithographic process could do the job better and without
the limitations inherent in the stencil of woodblock. Further developments
which came about with the introduction of zinc plates, photo offset,
three- and four-color process, and so forth, freed poster artists
from the remaining technical restrictions as to style, technique
and range of colors.
Let us turn from out brief historical excursion and recount the
evolution of modern poster design through the achievements of the
outstanding personalities that helped to shape its development and
progress.
In 1866, Jules Cheret, an artist and mural painter, returned to
Paris from a stay in England, where he had studied lithographic
processes. Upon his return, this craftsman set himself up as a designer
and printer of posters. He was a self-taught artist who found in
Japanese are the secret of good design — flat colors applied with
a stencil-like effect, eliminating inconsequentials in the subject
matter, and striving chiefly for a pleasing design.
The Japanese two-dimensional style influences his sense of design,
but for his color inspiration he turned to French Impressionism.
The colors on Cheret posters had a spectral purity and vibrancy
intensity entirely suitable to the sparkling personality of the
theatrical characters he depicted.
His subject matter, dealing mainly with the gaieties of Parisan
night life in theatres and cafes, was audacious and full of merriment,
but never passed the bounds of propriety. Among his earliest designs
was a poster made in 1867, announcing the appearance of the immortal
Sarah Bernhardt. All in all, he produced more than a thousand poster
designs. He was in perfect control of the medium, because he understood
the possibilities of the lithographic process and had the facilities
for doing his own printing. Cheret posters began to attract attention,
not only to the things they advertised, but also to themselves as
works of art. All of Paris began to look forward to the next Cheret
poster and took a deep pride in these designs that so colorfully
decorated the advertising kiosks.
By 1880, this new art form had attracted other designers. Alexandra
Steinlen and Toulouse-Lautrec followed to a great extent the established
pattern of Cheret. The subject matter of their posters was essentially
the same-devoted to advertising the night life, frivolity and colorful
splendor of the music halls and cabarets of gay Paris. Lautrec,
who was perhaps the better draftsman, exerted a tremendous influence
on other poster designers. By experimenting with the new poster
technique. George Meunier, Pierre Bonnard, Alphone Mucha, Eugene
Grasset and Adolphe Willette, stood out from among the rest.
The work of the French designers has a stimulating effect on the
comparatively drab poster art of England. In a poster exhibition
in England in 1894, the French influence was noticably reflected
in the work of Aubrey Beardsley, Will Owne, Dudley Hardy, Walter
Crane, James Pryde and William Nicholson. The last-named two collaborated
on poster designed under the pseudonym of "The Beggarstaff Brothers."
They were designers who set out to prove how striking a poster can
be in simple flat areas and limited to few colors. No attempt was
made at realism. Their designed represented frank statements of
the two-dimensional limitations of paint applied on a flat plane
and gave the illusion of colored paper cut-outs posted in a harmonious
composition. This illusion was quite understandable, for it was
precisely that cut-out technique which the Beggarstaffs often employed
in designing their posters.
The Beggarstaffs, as well as Aubrey Beardsley and other Bristish
designers, in turn inspired American poster art. It is said the
Beardsley's effect on the American, William Bradley, was so marked
that the latter became known as the American Beardsley. Edward Penfield,
too, fell under the Beardsley spell. Among other notable early American
designers whose work is still seen or whose influence is still felt
are F. G. Cooper, C. B. Falls, H. M. Meyers, C. E. Millard, Harrison
Fisher and Adolph Treidler.
Influenced somewhat by this new poster art movement, but not yielding
to it entirely, was the individual style of the German artists Lugwig
Hohlwein. Hohlwein was an advertising artist with an avid interest
in hunting and sports. His technique was a strange blend of East-Asiatic
simplicity with the photographic accuracy of a snap-shot. He was
a master in the portrayal of the figures of man and beast, and he
achieved the effect of great detail through clever suggestion, rather
than by actual delineation. He omitted all non-essentials and made
adroit use of strong patches of shadows contrasted with crisp gleaming
flashes of highlights. His genius was recognized throughout Germany
and by artists and advertisers the world over.
Among others who added to the prestige of German poster design
were Paul Schuerich, H. R. Erdt and Lucian Bernhard. Bernhard sought
his inspiration from the experimental abstract developed by the
great Austrian poster artist Julius Klinger. In that, Bernhard differed
from his German colleagues who, under the spell of Hohlwein, produced
poster designs that has become increasingly illustrative and realistic.
Bernhard was the first of the German commercial artists to popularize
the rugged and stark simplicity of abstract form. His Priester Match
poster, known to every student of poster design, remains a legendary
model of dramatic simplicity.
The work of Joseph Binder represents another distinct approach
to poster design. His illustrations have a two-dimensional quality,
with details sacrificed to design. Instead of emphasizing the abstract
or grotesque, Binder builds up his illustrative material with simple
colorful shapes, creating a geometrical pattern of design. His is
the exponent of the theory of "harmony of color contrasts," a working
philosophy of daring color combination which was adopted by artists
in Austria where Binder originally worked, and spread as a gospel
to other countries.
Sascha Maurer, another Viennese now in America, had done commendable
work, carrying on this tradition of abstract design, but compromising
with shades of realism. His famous skiing posters are always dynamic
in composition, conveying a feeling entirely suitable to the spirit
of sports.
Leon Bakst of Russia, H. Cassiers of Belgium and Toyokuni of Japan
have brought distinction to the poster art of their respective countries.
The Underground Railway System of Great Britain has been one of
the most important patrons of poster art in England. Their travel
posters have always been executed with such picturesque appeal that
it has become popular with the poorer people to purchase these posters
as wall decorations for their homes. The lettering is usually so
placed that the advertising matter can be blocked out or cut away
without marring the general effect of the composition. Heading the
group of outstanding designers of England is McKnight Kauffer, an
American by birth, who established his professional reputation in
England. Among others of repute are Austin Cooper, Fred Taylor,
Tom Purvis, Pat Keely and A. Games.
In America, poster art is not founded in the elements of pure design
so typical of poster treatment in Europe. It has always leaned toward
anecdotal illustration. From this point-of-view, we have fallen
behind Germany, England and France in the competition — some critics
assert that we were never in the race. Our work, they maintain,
is insipid, unimaginative and devoid of good taste. The typical
American poster consists of a sensational illustration crowded out
by a mass of lettering. We are not design-conscious; we agree too
preoccupied with the movies and TV to bother much with pictures
that do not flicker. Even our posters "play to the gallery." We
excel in technique, speed and fidelity of reproduction — especially
in speed. Ion most European countries, advertising poster displays
constitute outdoor museums, and the names of the poster artists
are almost as familiar to the general public as are the names of
movie stars to the American public. Poster exhibits are of interest
not only to artists; they have a wide cultural appeal to the average
man, also.
But the defenders of American poster design remind us that the
poster is not an end itself; it is a means to an end. The aim of
the advertiser, bluntly expressed, is to sponsor a poster design
which will zoom the sale of his product. Thus the acid test of a
poster design is its selling record. The efficacy of a poster is
measured statically. It is astonishing what quantities of beer,
cigarettes and toothpaste a realistic likeness of a glamour girl
with a bewitching smile can sell. Sales, sales, sales — that's what
the advertiser is paying for. The agencies show that this type of
poster brings tangible results, and they prove ot through ever-climbing
sales charts.
American poster design at present is on a higher level than formerly.
This is due in large measure to the fact that many of the great
designers of the world are now part of the American scene. Bayer,
Bernhard, Binder, Carlu and Kauffer — to name but a few — have set
up their studios in New York and other larger cities. It cannot
but follow that their influence will emerge as a potent force in
a changing concept of American poster design. Time will prove what
Europeans have long known — that good design is not a handicap to
the selling efficacy of a poster.
Poster Art Images
After World War I, France, the original source of poster
inspiration (as indeed of all progressive art movements), recovered the
glory of Cheret through the refreshingly new poster techniques of A. M.
Cassandre, Jean Carlu, Charles Loupot and others of that experimental
school. They relied more on symbolism and on a free decorative motif than
on literal interpretation of subject matter, Cassandre's work, in particular,
shows a leaning to the new art movements borrowed from the Monet and Manet
and Picasso schools of modern painting. These French poster artists are
designers, not illustrators, as are so many of our American poster artists.
J. I. Biegeleisen |
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Uher, Hugarian poster artist |
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E. McKnight Kauffer, American poster artist, known for his
London Transport (Underground) posters |
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Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, inspirational springboard of French poster art
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Ludwig Hohlwein, early German poster artist
considered by many to be the father of German poster art |
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Sascha Maurer. Example of American poster art |
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A. Games, contemporary British poster designer |
Jules Cheret, early French poster artist contemporary
of Toulouse-Lautrec |
Theophiule A. Steinlen, early French poster art at its best
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