The Art Poster Inspiration
Having been looking at vintage posters and illustrations for my monthly calendar inspiration, I found The Art Poster’s bold colours, hand drawn type, beautiful illustrations are jut amazing and very inspiring and I would like to share it with you.
The modern poster dates back to 1870s when invention of colour lithography allowed artist to achieve vibrant colours and cheap mass production. By the 1890s in France (“Belle Epoque”) a number of artists created poster art in this period, foremost amongst them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Chéret (“The Father of the Poster”).
The poster art has been recognized as an art form and attracted many well known artists. Commercial success of the poster art led to a major exhibition in Paris in 1884; Great Britain and Italy in 1894, Germany in 1896 and Russia in 1897. The most significant exhibition of that time was held in Reims, France in 1896 (1690 posters).
In the 1890s poster art became important part of Art Nouveau style characterized by flowing, organic lines, elegant grace, and a richly complex symbolism. Alphonse Mucha and Eugène Grasset were the most influential poster designers of this generation.
The Art Poster spreads through Europe and the United States. Each countries developed their distinctive national style. In France the cult of the café; in Italy the opera and fashion; in Spain the bullfight and festivals; in Germany trade fairs and magazines; in Britain and America literary journals and the circus.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864 – 1901)
Jules Chéret (1836 – 1932)
Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939)
Privat-Livemont (1861–1936)
Eugène Grasset (1845 – 1917)
Leonetto Cappiello (1875 – 1942)
Louis John Rhead (1857 – 1926)
Will H. Bradley (1868 – 1962)
Edward Penfield (1866 – 1925)
