The development of posters as an art form, dating from the late 19th-c, when there were improvements in printing techniques, especially colour lithography. Toulouse-Lautrec was an early master who achieved some of his most striking effects through this medium; and the work of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (18601939) has enjoyed a wide revival.
Competition spawned a breed of poster art specialists and by the 1870s, colorful posters dotted the city of Paris.In France, posters became a work of art that transformed the thoroughfares of Paris into the "art galleries of the street." Their commercial success was such that some of the artists were in great demand and theatre stars personally selected their own favorite artist to do the poster for an upcoming performance. The popularity of poster art was such that in 1884 a major exhibition was held in Paris. By the 1890s, poster art had widespread usage in other parts of Europe, advertising everything from a bicycle to a bullfight. By the end of the 19th century, during an era known as the Belle Époque, personalities such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec raised the level of poster art even further. Between 1895 and 1900, Jules Chéret created the Maîtres de l'Affiche (Masters of the Poster) series that became not only a commercial success, but is now seen as an important historical publication.
Other creators such as Eugène Grasset and Alphonse Mucha helped develop Art Nouveau, a complete new style for poster presentations and more. Poster artists such as Théophile Steinlen, Albert Guillaume, Leonetto Cappiello and others became important figures of their day, their art form transferred to magazines for advertising as well as for social and political commentary.
Theater influence
The advent of the movie theater saw a new form of poster art, the Movie poster and although mass produced on lower quality paper intended to have a short lifespan, they nevertheless showed the same creativity of their forerunners in poster art.
Limited in their application during the 1930s, following World War II, television advertising all but killed the poster industry.
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