Poster History and Creators

Posters are graphic materials that we use to hang on walls or even place on table tops that convey an idea or information with the use of both graphics and text. (www.Wikipedia.com)

They are used for many reasons: posters act as advertising and marketing tools to promote events, products and services. They also assist in spreading propaganda messages and help protestors and groups to convey their ideas and demands. In recent times, posters have become reproductions of masterpieces that are otherwise only available to people who have the time and money to purchase such works of art. Posters are also teaching aids that help people learn about a particular subject or person or event.

Over time, posters have been used primarily to advertise and announce. In the mid 19th century, the first posters were printed in France to promote new products to the consumers. For the next ten years, posters spread all over Europe and were utilized to promote shows in theaters, operas, and important events in Paris and France.

Who are the people that are significant to the development of posters?

It was Alois Senefelder of Austria who made a great contribution in the development of posters, particularly in poster printing. Senefelder invented lithography in 1796 which allowed for massive production and printing for less the price. Soon the chromolithography followed suit and made possible mass editions of poster printing using bright and vivid colors.

In 1858, considered as the “Father of the Poster”, Jules Cheret was the one to provide a different image for the poster and a novel way of poster printing that time. His poster, Orphee aux Enfants, was the foremost print poster to become an artistic production that integrated text and graphics. A new four-color lithographic process was used by Cheret that produced quality print posters. It became easier to integrate a highly stylized form of graphic arts to poster printing with Cheret’s procedure. For his contribution, Cheret was given the Legion of Honor in 1889 as the creator of a “new branch of art”.

It was the turn of the 19th century that two men created numerous designs for posters and lithographs. Henri de Toulousse-Lautrec and Pierre Bonnard were among those who followed the path of Cheret. Other influential poster designers of that time were Alphonse Mucha and Eugene Grasset, who were very famous for their use of women as stylized figures in their posters. Hence, their style was known during their generation as “Art Nouveau”.

On the other hand, the modern age produced poster artists that created a special type of graphic art in the likes of LeonettoCappiello, Theophile Steinlen, and Albert Guillaume. Their art posters became the model for magazine advertisements and other social and political reviews.

For generations after, poster artists have become celebrated personalities that major exhibitions were made in Paris, and all over Europe to honor their form of art.

In the United States, posters were used basically to market basic commercial products and services. It was not until the arrival of the traveling circus that poster printing enjoyed immense popularity with colorful and vibrant posters that announced the coming of the carnival.