An analysis of the development of American poster art since 1900

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AN ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0

A T h e s is P re se n te d to th e F a c u l t y o f th e D ep artm en t o f F in e A r ts The U n i v e r s i t y o f S o u t h e r n C a l i f o r n i a

In P a r t i a l F u lf illm e n t o f th e R e q u ire m e n ts f o r th e D egree M a ste r o f A r ts

by H ow ard F r a n c i s B u sh Ju n e 1942

UMI Number: EP57837

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

Dissertation Pthl.shing

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This thesis, written by ..........................

under the direction of h.XB F acu lty C o m m i t t e e , a n d a p p r o v e d by a l l its m e m b e r s , has been pres ent ed to an d ac ce pte d by the Coun ci l on Grad ua te S t u d y an d Research in pa rt ia l f ulfill­ m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r th e d e g r e e o f

MASTER OF ARTS ............ y D ean

Secretary

...................

Faculty C om m ittee

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I.

PAGE

THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED. . . .

1

The p r o b l e m ..........................................................................

1

S t a t e m e n t o f t h e p r o b l e m .................................

1

I m p o r t a n c e o f t h e s t u d y ..............................

1

Scope o f th e stu d y

2

........................................................

D e f i n i t i o n s o f te rm s used • • • • • • • • • • •

3

P o s t e r ........................................................

3

P o s t e r a r t ..................................................................... A m erica

• • • • » • • • • • • • •

..........................

S t y l e ....................................................................................

4

T e c h n i q u e ..........................................................................

4

C o l o r ....................................................................................

4

4

R e p ro d u c tio n

.........................................

4

P a tro n a g e

.............................................................................

5

O rg a n iz a tio n o f re m a in d e r o f th e t h e s i s II.

4

•• • •

5

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND A HISTORICAL STUDY OF POSTER ART BEFORE 1 9 0 0

.........................

6

R e v ie w o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e ....................................... ..

6

Books d e v o te d e x c l u s i v e l y t o t h e p o s t e r . . .

7

Books p e r t a i n i n g t o a d v e r t i s i n g a n d p u b lic ity .

9

P e rio d ic a l a r tic le s G en eral su rv ey s

..............................................................

11

........................................................................

12

U n p r i n t e d i n f o r m a t i o n ...................................

.

.

.

.

12

CHAPTER

PAGE A h isto ric a l

III.

stu d y o f p o s te r a r t

b e f o r e 1900

.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF STYLE IN AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0

..............................

25

T he e a r l y y e a r s o f

th e tw e n tie th c e n tu ry . . .

T h e p r e - w a r , W o rld

W ar I , a n d p o s t - w a r y e a r s

27 •

T h e m o d e r n p e r i o d ........................................ IV .

12

33 39

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUE AND COLOR IN AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0

...............................

46

T he d e v e l o p m e n t o f t e c h n i q u e ............................................... 46 T he f i r s t

q u a rte r o f th e tw e n tie th

c e n tu ry

• •

T he m o d e r n p e r i o d

• • • • . . ................................49

T he d e v e l o p m e n t o f

c o lo r

. .

E a rly tw e n tie th c e n tu ry p o s te rs

47

......................................... 54 ...............................

56

1 9 1 2 t o t h e p r e s e n t .................................................................... 56 V.

THE DEVELOPMENT IN REPRODUCTION OF AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0

63

Woodrcut p r o c e s s .............................................................................. 6 4 L i t h o g r a p h y ................................................................................... 67 L e s s i m p o r t a n t p r o c e s s e s .................................................... 70 V I.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PATRONAGE OF POSTER ART IN AMERICA SINCE 1 9 0 0 ..............................................................

74

1 9 0 0 t o t h e F i r s t W o rld War

................................ 76

W a r tim e a n d p o s t - w a r p o s t e r s

................................ SO

P a tr o n a g e s i n c e 1925

.....................................................65

iv CHAPTER V II.

PAGE

SUMMARY AND C O N C L U S IO N S .........................................................

91

S u m m a r y .............................................................................................

91

C o n c l u s i o n ........................................................................................

98

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................

102

APPENDICES...............................

107

LIST OF PLATES I.

EUROPEAN POSTERS

" T h e Woman i n W h i t e , " F r e d W a l k e r W ine P o s t e r b y J u l e s C h e r e t "L a it P ur S t e r i l i s e , "

.....................

113

....................................

114

S te in le n

...............................

" L a R evu e B l a n c h e , " T o u l o u s e - L a u t r e c " J e a n n e d TA r c , " E u g e n e G r a s s e t

• • . •

116

...............................

117

P o s t e r by th e B e g g a r s t a f f B r o th e r s

.....................

G erm an S t y l e P o s t e r b y L u d w ig H o l w e i n II.

115

.

118

. •

119

. • •

121

. • •

122

AMERICAN POSTERS

" S c r i b n e r ’ s F o r X m a s ," L o u i s J .

Rhead

B i c y c l e P o s t e r by W i l l H . B r a d l e y

. .

P o s t e r f o r T h e Chap B ook b y W i l l H . B r a d l e y

123

E a r l y P o s t e r f o r H a r p e r ’ s M a g az in e b y E d w a rd P e n f i e l d

....................................

" H a r p e r ’ s S e p t e m b e r , " E d w a rd P e n f i e l d B ic y c le P o s te r by M a x fie ld P a r r i s h

124

. • •

125

.....................

126

N e w s s t a n d P o s t e r b y J * C* L e y e n d e c k e r -

. • •

N e w a rk ’ s P r i z e P o s t e r b y A d o lp h T r e i d l e r

• •

T y p i c a l L i b e r t y Bond P o s t e r o f W o rld War I

12 7 128

.

129

..........................

130

W o o d - c u t P o s t e r b y F . G. C o o p e r ..........................

131

" V ic to r y H a l l , " C h a rle s B. F a l l s

PLATE X IX . XX.

PAGE " R i n g i n g O ut L i b e r t y , " N . G. W y e t h ..........................1 3 2 P o s t e r S h o w in g G erm an S t y l e I n f l u e n c e b y E d w a rd P e n f i e l d ..................................................

X X I. X X II. X X III. XXIV.

"A b ra h am L i n c o l n , " C h a r l e s B . F a l l s

133

. . . . . .

134

P o s t e r b y W i l l H . B r a d l e y ...................................................1 3 5 H um orous P o s t e r o f t h e L a t e

1T h i r t i e s

. . . .

136

P o s t e r f o r t h e C a l i f o r n i a F r u i t G row ers E x c h a n g e b y Tom R y a n ......................................................... 1 3 7

XXV. XXVI. X X V II. X X V III.

" J a n tz e n " P o s t e r by P e t t y

..............................................

138

2 4 -s h e e t P o s t e r L ith o g ra p h e d in C o lo r . . . .

139

P o s t e r D is p la y s f o r O u td o o r A d v e r t i s i n g

140

T y p ic a l L ith o g ra p h e d 2 4 -s h e e t P o s te r s

.

• •

of

1 9 4 0 a n d 1 9 4 1 ..............................................................................1 4 1 XXIX.

XXX.

P r i z e W in n in g P o s t e r f o r n a t i o n a l D e f e n s e , T r e a s u r y D e p artm en t C o m p e titio n , 1941

• • •

142

Army A i r C o r p s P o s t e r b y J o s e p h B i n d e r

. . .

143

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED The i n t r o d u c t i o n

o f t h e m odern p o s t e r i n t o A m e ric a a t

th e c lo s e of th e n in e te e n th

c e n t u r y mar k s t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a

new e r a i n a d v e r t i s i n g a r t ,

and,

o f a new f i e l d

of a rt.

in r e a l i t y ,

and p o s t e r s a t l a r g e te n d to

show t h a t e a c h c o u n t r y h a s p r o d u c e d i t s

stu d y t o

m ent o f

a n a ly z e ,

(1 ) s t y l e ,

and

rule.**'

THE PROBLEM

S ta te m e n t o f th e p ro b le m .

tio n ,

own t y p e o f p o s t e r

A m erica h a s p r o v e d no e x c e p t i o n t o t h e I.

th is

-

P o s t e r a r t i s a d i s t i n c t and v e ry

im p o rta n t b ran c h of th e a r t s ,

a rt#

th e b e g in n in g

I t h as been th e p u rp o se o f

in th e fo llo w in g o rd e r,

(2 ) t e c h n i q u e ,

(3 ) c o lo r,

th e d e v e lo p ­

(4 ) r e p r o d u c ­

(5 ) p a t r o n a g e o f p o s t e r a r t i n A m e ric a fro m 1900 to

W o rld War I I .

T h is w as p re c e d e d by a b r i e f h i s t o r i c a l s tu d y

o f th e p o s te r b e fo re 1900. Im p o rta n c e o f t h e

stu d y .

Some a u t h o r i t i e s h a v e s t a t e d

-*• " A m e r i c a n p o s t e r a r t i s e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m th e p o s te r a r t o f o th e r n a tio n s ." R en e C l a r k e , " A m e r i c a n P o s t e r A r t ," 1 7 th A rt D ir e c to r s A nnual o f A d v e r tis in g A rt (New Y o r k : L o n g m a n s G r e e n a n d C om pany, 1 9 3 £ ) , P • 1 1 4 • 2

T he t e r m W o rld War I I d a t e s f r o m t h e e n t r a n c e o f t h e U n ite d S t a t e s o f A m e ric a i n t o t h e w a r i n D ecem b er, 1941 > an d no p o s t e r s p ro d u c e d s i n c e t h a t tim e h av e b een in c lu d e d in t h i s stu d y .

2 th a t sin c e

1900 a d v e r t i s i n g h a s h a d a r a p i d g r o w th .

t h i s no d o u b t i s t r u e o f a d v e r t i s i n g tic u la rly

so o f th e p o s t e r .

in g e n e ra l,

The e a r l y

3

it

W h ile is p ar­

s o - c a l l e d " a r t w ork"

u s e d i n a d v e r t i s i n g w as w eak i n c o m p a r i s o n t o t h e w o r k c r e a t e d by o t h e r a r t i s t s .

S in c e t h a t

tim e , how ever, ch an g es

h av e b e e n m any, an d v a r i o u s f a c t o r s h a v e c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e g r o w t h o f p o s t e r a r t u n t i l now i t b o th a r t a n d i n d u s tr y . a rtists

in th e

fie ld ,

z a tio n s w ith la r g e

i s o f v a s t im p o rtan c e to

I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e m any a g e n c i e s a n d th e re are a t

th e p re s e n t tim e ,

s t a f f s d e a lin g e x c lu s iv e ly w ith p o s te r

d e sig n an d a d v e r t is in g .

As f a r a s c a n b e a s c e r t a i n e d ,

h as n o t y e t been p u b lis h e d a stu d y r e l a t i n g a r t o f t h e A m e ric an p o s t e r , an d p a r t i c u l a r l y m ent o f t h i s a r t . tra c e

o rg a n i­

T h erefo re,

th e re

s o le ly to th e to th e d e v e lo p ­

t h i s w r i t e r h as a tte m p te d to

a n d a n a l y z e t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e m o re i m p o r t a n t

a sp e c ts o f p o s te r a r t

i n A m e ric a s i n c e 1 9 0 0 ,

in th e hope ith a t

such a s tu d y w i l l p ro v e o f v a lu e , n o t o n ly to th e s c h o la r , but to th e a r t i s t

and b u sin e ssm a n a s w e l l .

Scope o f th e s tu d y . s ta n d p o in t,

A p o ste r,

v iew ed fro m t h e

b ro ad

h a s m any a s p e c t s , a n d m any f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e

t o i t s m ak in g .

I t w o u ld be e r r o n e o u s t o assum e t h a t a l l

2 "T he t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y h a s w i t n e s s e d t h e g ro w th o f A d v e r ti s in g fro m an u n d e v e lo p e d , i l l - e q u i p p e d , an d o f te n e r r a t i c a d v o c a c y t o a w e l l - d e f i n e d p r o f e s s i o n o f im m ense p o te n tia litie s ." R o b e r t F . H ym ers a n d L e o n a r d S h a r p e , The T e c h n i q u e a n d P r a c t i c e o f A d v e r t i s i n g A r t (New Y o r k : P i t t m a n P u b lis h in g C o rp o ra tio n , 1 940), p . 1 .

o f th e s e c o u ld be c o n s id e re d i n one s tu d y o f t h i s k in d . T hus,

i n o r d e r to l i m i t t h e s c o p e o f t h i s w o rk ,

th e w r i t e r

h a s f e l t t h a t o n l y t h e m ore i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t s o f p o s t e r a r t s h o u ld be s t r e s s e d , n a m e ly ^ s t y l e , d u c tio n , and p a tro n a g e . th e a r t

o f th e p o s te r,

p o ste r a d v e rtis in g ,

te c h n iq u e ,

c o lo r,

rep ro ­

S in c e t h i s was a s tu d y l i m i t e d t o n o t a su rv ey o f th e e n t i r e f i e l d

th e

of

e c o n o m ic a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l a s p e c t s

w ere p u r p o s e l y o m i t t e d . II. P o ste r.

DEFINITIONS OF TEEMS USID^

C o n c e rn in g t h e p o s t e r , J o n e s h a s s t a t e d ,

I t s r a is o n d 'e t r e o b v io u s ly i s p u b l i c i t y , to a t t r a c t a t t e n t i o n a n d d e l i v e r a m e s s a g e , a n d by i d e a a n d d e s i g n i t s h o u l d m ake a n i n s t a n t a n e o u s a p p e a l t o p a s s e r s - b y , w ith t h e s t o r y so t r u t h f u l l y s t a t e d i n la n g u a g e so s im p le t h a t t h e r e a l m e a n in g c a n n o t be m i s c o n s t r u e d . 5 T he p o s t e r d i f f e r s

from t h e p r e s s a d v e r tis e m e n t in t h a t t h e

l a t t e r a tte m p ts to re a c h c o n c lu s io n s v ia t h e i n t e l l e c t , w h ile th e p o ste rjm a k e s a s w if t and d e f i n i t e a p p e a l to th e e m o tio n s. sp e c ific a tte n tio n

I n t h i s s tu d y th e te rm " p o s t e r ” r e f e r s to t h e form o f a r t ,

th e

u s u a l p u rp o se o f w h ic h i s

to goods o r s e r v i c e ,

aro u se i n t e r e s t ,

^ A g l o s s a r y o f t e c h n i c a l te rm s i s

to c a l l

and c r e a t e a

appended.

5 S id n e y R. J o n e s , P o s t e r s and T h e ir D e s ig n e rs (L o n d o n : T he S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) , P* 3* H y m e rs a n d S h a r p e ,

ojd.

c it

.,

p.

68.

d e sire fo r p u rch ase.

T1i±q a d v e r t i s i n g m ed iu m m ay b e u s e d f o r

e i t h e r in d o o r o r o u td o o r p u b l i c i t y ,

a n d may v a r y

th e

b illb o a rd d is p la y .

s m a ll p o s t e r sta m p t o t h e l a r g e P o ste r a r t .

T he a r t u s e d i n t h e d e s i g n a n d e x e c u t i o n

o f p o s te r s h a s been t i t l e d A m e ric a .

" p o ste r a r t . ”

T he U n i t e d S t a t e s o f A m e r i c a w a s i n t e r p r e t e d

a s "A m eric a ” ; i t s S ty le .

in s i z e fro m

p e o p le and c u l t u r e a s " A m e ric a n .”

T he c h a r a c t e r i s t i c mode o f e x p r e s s i o n t h a t

e x h i b i t s th e s p i r i t an d f a c u l t y o f t h e a r t i s t h a s b een te rm e d " s ty le .” T e c h n iq u e . as th e

The te r m " t e c h n i q u e " h a s b e e n i n t e r p r e t e d

s p e c i f i c m eth o d o f e x e c u t i o n em p lo y ed b y t h e a r t i s t . C o lo r.

In th is

s tu d y th e term " c o lo r " h a s been used

a s a g e n e ra l h e a d in g f o r th e v is u a l ap p earan ce o f th e p o s t e r in reg ard s to th e r e f le c tio n h u e s o f th e sp e ctru m as d iffe re n tia te d

of lig h t.

(ra in b o w ) a r e c o n s id e r e d to

be " c o l o r , "

fro m b la c k and w h i t e .

R e p ro d u c tio n .

S in c e th e p o s te r i s n o t a ty p e o f a r t

u s u a lly lim ite d to a s in g le copy, a d d itio n a l

S p e c if ic a lly , th e

some m e t h o d o f p r o d u c i n g

c o p ie s o f t h e o r i g i n a l w o rk m u st be u s e d .

The

p r o c e s s e s e m p lo y e d t o r e p r o d u c e t h e a r t i s t ’ s o r i g i n a l d e s i g n h a v e been c l a s s e d u n d e r th e g e n e r a l te rm o f " r e p r o d u c t i o n . ”

P a tro n a g e .

The te rra " p a t r o n a g e " r e l a t e s t o t h e

spon­

s o rin g o f an a d v e rtis e m e n t o r s e r i e s o f a d v e rtis e m e n ts *

An

i n d i v i d u a l o r o r g a n i z a t i o n t h a t s e e k s t o a d v e r t i s e som e c o m m o d ity o r s e r v i c e "by t h e u s e o f p o s t e r a r t th e p a tro n o f th e p o ste r* a rily

i s known a s

T h is m eans t h a t t h e p a t r o n o r d i n ­

fin a n c e s th e d e sig n in g , p ro d u c tio n ,

and p o s tin g

of th e

a d v e rtis e m e n t. III.

ORGANIZATION OF REMAINDER OF THE THESIS

C h a p te r I I h a s b een d e v o te d t o a re v ie w o f a v a i l a b l e lite ra tu re

on t h e

su b je c t,

f o llo w e d by a b r i e f h i s t o r i c a l

stu d y of p o s te r a r t b e fo re 1900.

I t w as h o p e d t h a t t h i s

b a c k g r o u n d s t u d y w o u ld e n l i g h t e n t h e r e a d e r a s t o t h e

o rig in ,

g ro w th , a n d d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h i s a r t b e f o r e t h e m odern p o s t e r e r a i n A m e ric a. The d e v e lo p m e n t o f s t y l e , d u c tio n ,

te c h n iq u e and c o lo r ,

and p a tr o n a g e o f t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y p o s t e r a r t

rep ro ­ in

A m e ric a h a s b e e n a n a l y z e d and d i s c u s s e d i n C h a p te r s I I I ,

IV ,

V, a n d V I r e s p e c t i v e l y . C h a p t e r V I I p r o v i d e s a sum m ary o f t h e f o r e g o i n g a n a ly se s,

f o l l o w e d b y t h e c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t m ay r e a s o n a b l y

be re a c h e d fro m su c h s t u d i e s .

/'

//

F o llo w in g C h a p te r V II a r e t h e b ib lio g r a p h y and a p p en d ic e s.

The b i b l i o g r a p h y i n c l u d e s o n l y s e l e c t e d r e f e r e n c e

m a te ria l.

T he a p p e n d i c e s i n c l u d e

te rm s, and

(B) i l l u s t r a t i o n s .

(A) a g l o s s a r y o f t e c h n i c a l

CHAPTER I I REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE M D A HISTORICAL STUDY OF POSTER ART BEFORE 1 9 0 0 The d e v e lo p m e n t o f m odern p o s t e r a r t re c e iv e d l i t t l e lis h e rs .

i n A m erica lia s

o r no c o n s i d e r a t i o n fro m w r i t e r s an d p u b ­

W h eth er t h e y h a v e m e r e ly d i s r e g a r d e d i t

p o s ly a v o id e d such an a n a l y s i s , to d e te rm in e .

t h i s w r i t e r h a s n o t been a b le

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such w r itte n a n a ly s is .

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REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

i n so m e s p h e r e s e n t i r e l y l a c k i n g . g iv e n a d e q u a te

m e n t.

th e re a d e r

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su b je c ts,

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a r t o f t h e A m e ric an p o s t e r ,

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read er as to

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th e i r a c tu a l c o n te n t.

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it

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r e a d e r m ast d e te rm in e f o r h im s e lf th e p r o g r e s s o r

d e v e l o p m e n t s m ad e i n t h i s m e d iu m . A v a ila b le l i t e r a t u r e

on t h e

s u b j e c t o f A m erican

p o s t e r a r t m ay b e d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r b r o a d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s : (l)

books d e v o te d e x c l u s i v e l y to th e p o s t e r ,

t a i n i n g t o a d v e r t i s i n g and p u b l i c i t y , c le s,

(2 ) books p e r ­

(3) p e rio d ic a l a r t i ­

and (4 ) g e n e r a l s u r v e y s s u c h a s e n c y c lo p a e d ia a r t i c l e s . Books d e v o te d e x c l u s i v e l y to

o f books d e v o te d e n t i r e l y a sp e c ts,

to th e p o s te r ,

o r to

T he m a j o r i t y some o f i t s

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c o u n trie s . upon th e

th e p o s t e r .

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s u b j e c t o f A m e ric an p o s t e r s ,

sid e re d i t v ery l i t t l e

th ey have u s u a lly

a s i n f e r i o r to t h e E u ro p e a n w ork a n d have g iv e n d e fin ite

i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t A m e ric an p o s t e r a r t .

P u r v i s '* ’ h a s a t t e m p t e d t o sh o w p r o g r e s s

in th e p o s t e r f i e l d ,

b u t t h i s book, a s m o st E u ro p ean p u b l i c a t i o n s , g i v e much a t t e n t i o n d e v o te d t o

con­

to A m e ric an w o rk , a n d i s

illu s tra tio n s .

h as f a ile d to a lm o st e n t i r e l y

Any a n a l y s i s o f p r o g r e s s h a s b e e n

l e f t t o th e r e a d e r h im s e lf a f t e r v ie w in g th e r e p r o d u c tio n s c o m p iled by P u r v i s ,

one o f th e b e tte r-k n o w n B r i t i s h p o s t e r

d e sig n e rs.

1 Tom P u r v i s , P o s t e r P r o g r e s s L i m i t e d , n . d . ) , 12& p p .

( L o n d o n : T he S t u d i o

8 Of th e o t h e r B r i t i s h w r i t e r s

o f p o s te r books, Jo n es

2

and K a u f f e r ^ h a v e d e v o t e d m ore a t t e n t i o n

to w r i t t e n m a t e r ia l,

b u t t h e y t o o h a v e m ore o r l e s s n e g l e c t e d

t h e A m erican w o rk .

C e rta in a s p e c ts o f th e p o s te r , tie s

in th e f i e l d

its

have been c o n s id e re d , b a t th e i l l u s t r a t e d

m a t e r i a l h a s b e en o v e re m p h a s iz e d . to

c ritic iz e

h i s t o r y an d th e p e r s o n a l i ­

t h e u s e o f m any f i n e

t h a t i n m ost o f t h e s e p u b l i c a t i o n s c ie n t d e s c r ip tiv e m a te ria l to

T h is w r i t e r d o es n o t w ish illu stra tio n s,

b u t he f e e ls

th e re h as not been s u f f i ­

su p p le m e n t a d e q u a te ly th e

illu s tra tio n s * M ost o f t h e A m e ric an b o o k s p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e p o s t e r a r e t e c h n ic a l books used f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l p u rp o s e s . w o rk s,

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com m o nly know n a s t h e " h o w - t o - d o - i t " b o o k s , h a v e

p roved o f l i t t l e

v a lu e to th e

sc h o la r in te re s te d

t o r i c a l and d e v e lo p m e n ta l a s p e c ts

of p o ste r a r t .

in th e h i s ­ The t e c h ­

n i c a l books a re c o n cern ed c h i e f l y w ith p r e s e n ta tio n o f in f o m a tio n and in s t r u c t i o n s f o r th e stu d e n t

in p o s te r d e sig n .

O f t h e f e w b o o k s t h a t p r e s e n t t h e m o re s c h o l a r l y v i e w p o i n t , H a rrin g to n ^ h as c o n tr ib u te d th e b e s t w o rk .

H is p r e s e n t a t i o n

S i d n e y H. J o n e s , P o s t e r s a n d T h e i r D e s i g n e r s , 1 5 0 p p . ^ S . M c K n ig h t K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , T he A r t o f t h e P o s t e r (L ondon: C e c i l P a lm e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , 190 p p . ^ B u r t o n H a r r i n g t o n , T he E s s e n t i a l s o f P o s t e r D e s i g n ( P o s te r A d v e r tis in g A s s o c ia tio n , I n c . , U .S .A ., 1 9 2 5 ), 133 p p .

9 of* p o s t e r l i i s t o r y ,

tre n d s,

c o n tr ib u tio n to t h i s

a n d d e s i g n h a s m ade a d e f i n i t e

stu d y .

Books p e r t a i n i n g t o a d v e r t i s i n g a n d p u b l i c i t y . E urope h a s a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d books r e l a t i n g fie ld

o f a d v e rtis in g and p u b lic ity .

m ost p a r t , tis in g

T hese w o rk s , f o r th e

have been c o m p ila tio n s o f r e p r e s e n ta tiv e a d v e r­

i n a l l m e d iu m s ,

o r su m m aries.

s u p p le m e n te d by i n t r o d u c t o r y re m a rk s

H ere a g a i n t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s

im p o rta n t f e a t u r e a n d th e b ility

to th e g e n e ra l

a r e th e m ost

r e a d e r m ust assum e t h e r e s p o n s i ­

o f m ak in g a n y a n a l y s e s .

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y ears

t h e a n n u a l p u b l i c a t i o n s o f M o d e rn P u b l i c i t y , 5 e d i t e d i n London, have been o u ts ta n d in g c o ll e c t io n s

of a d v e rtis in g a r t .

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re p re se n ta ­

b u t in c lu d e v ery l i t t l e w r itte n

O th e r E u ro p ean p u b l i c a t i o n s o f a d v e r t i s i n g have c o n t r i b u t e m uch a b o u t A m e r i c a n w o r k .

A d v e rtis in g and i t s

a r t h a v e b e e n c a p a b l y h a n d l e d by

A m e ric an w r i t e r s a n d p u b l i s h e r s . m an y w r i t e r s .

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T h is f i e l d h a s a t t r a c t e d

th e re fo re ,

m an y e x c e l l e n t b o o k s c o v e r i n g t h e

e n tire f i e l d ,

a c h a p t e r o r tw o i n e a c h d e v o te d t o re la tio n sh ip

of a d v e rtis in g

is th e p u b lic a tio n o f

th e p o s t e r .

to in d u s try and th e

u s u a lly w ith T he d i r e c t e c o n o m ic

^ F . A. M e r c e r a n d W. G a u n t , e d i t o r s , M o d e rn P u b l i c i t y ( L o n d o n : T he S t u d i o L i m i t e d , p u b l i s h e d a n n u a l l y ) •

10 a s p e c t s i n v o l v e d m ay a c c o u n t f o r a m o r e t h o r o u g h a n d m o re s c h o la r ly ap p ro ach to t h i s o f th e

su b je c t.

d e v elo p m e n t o f a d v e r t i s i n g ,

c h a p te rs

in h is

stu d y

h as p re s e n te d in th e

on o u t d o o r a d v e r t i s i n g a n e x c e l l e n t h i s t o r y o f t h e

p o s t e r a n d some o f t h e E u ro p e and A m e ric a . e x te n t,

P re s b re y ,^

d e v e l o p m e n t s m ade i n t h i s f i e l d

A lth o u g h he h a s n o t c o n s id e r e d ,

th e d e s ig n fro m th e s ta n d p o in t o f a r t ,

d e v e lo p m e n ts h av e been w e ll p r e s e n t e d . se c tio n to

in b o th

to any

th e o th e r

By d e v o t i n g a s e p a r a t e

t h e A m e r i c a n w o r k , P r e s b r e y h a s b e e n a b l e t o em­

p h a s iz e t h e d e v elo p m e n t o f a d v e r t i s i n g i n

th is

c o u n try .

W ork s r e l a t i n g t o a d v e r t i s i n g a r t h a v e d e a l t m o re s p e c i f i c a l l y w i t h t h e a r t o f t h e p o s t e r t h a n w i t h t h e com­ m e r c i a l a n d e c o n o m ic a s p e c t s . g en eral and s p e c ific

L arn ed? has p re s e n te d b o th

in fo rm a tio n about a d v e r tis in g i l l u s t r a ­

t i o n i n A m e r i c a i n s u c h a w ay t h a t p i c t o r i a l p o s t e r s m ay be s tu d ie d f o r d e v e lo p m e n ts. and S h arp e p o ste rs,

its

S u c h b o o k s a s t h o s e b y H ym ers

h a v e c o n s i d e r e d some p h a s e s o f a r t a s u s e d i n u se and p la c e in a d v e r t i s i n g ,

and have c ite d

6

F r a n k P r e s b r e y , The H i s t o r y a n d D e v e l o p m e n t o f A d v e r t i s i n g ( G a r d e n C i t y , New Y o r k : D o u b l e d a y , D o r a n a n d C om pany, I n c . , 1 9 2 9 ) , 6 4 2 p p . . ? L i v i n g s t o n W. L a r n e d , I l l u s t r a t i o n i n A d v e r t i s i n g (New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l Book C om pany, I n c . , 1 92571 321 p p •

S

R o b e r t E . H y m e rs a n d L e o n a r d S h a r p e , T he T e c h n i q u e a n d P r a c t i c e o f A d v e r t i s i n g A r t , 314 PP*

11 s p e c i f i c w o rk s an d c am p aig n s* A d v e rtis in g a r t

in th e tw e n tie th

c e n tu ry h as been

d i s c u s s e d and com pared w i t h t h e v a r i o u s s c h o o l s o f a r t o f th is

c e n t u r y by Young i n h i s

b o o k , M o d e rn A d v e r t i s i n g A r t . 9

T h is t y p e o f c o m p a ris o n w i t h t h e m odern t r e n d s

in p a in tin g

an d o t h e r fo rm s o f t h e f i n e a r t s w as o f e s p e c i a l v a lu e to th is

stu d y .

A m erica h a s i t s

tio n s of a d v e rtis in g a r t , a lly

annual c o lL e c tio n s and e x h ib i­

som e o f w h i c h a r e p u b l i s h e d

annu­

t o sho w t h e p r e v a i l i n g t r e n d s a n d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e w o r k . ^ P e rio d ic a l a r t i c l e s .

The m a g a z in e h a s p r o v i d e d a

w e a lth o f m a te r ia l about th e s u b je c t a t h an d .

M a g azin es

d e v o t e d t o s p e c i a l f i e l d s a n d s u b j e c t s h a v e p r e s e n t e d m any a rtic le s

w r i t t e n by b o th c r i t i c s an d p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s

O c c a sio n a lly a r t i c l e s c ritic

of e s p e c ia l in te r e s t to th e p o ste r

h av e a p p e a re d in m ag a zin es i n

th e g e n e ra l f i e l d

S u c h a r t i c l e s o f t e n c o n s i d e r m any o f t h e a r t i s t i c

of a rt.

a sp e c ts

t h a t a r e o v e rlo o k e d o r o m itte d i n th e t r a d e an d i n d u s t r i a l

9 "The a u t h o r ’ s s t u d y o f m o d ern a d v e r t i s i n g a r t i n G e rm a n y , A u s t r i a , C z e c h o - S l o v a k i a a n d P r a n c e s h o w e d t h a t a n a d v e r t i s e m e n t i s s e ld o m d e s i g n e d i n a n y t h i n g b u t t h e m odern m a n n e r . ” P r a n k H . Y o u n g , M o d e rn A d v e r t i s i n g A r t (New Y o r k : C o v i c h e , F r i e d e , I n d . , 1 9 3 0 ) , p . TUT. A r ~k D i r e c t o r s A n n u a l o f A d v e r t i s i n g A r t L o n g m a n s G r e e n a n d C o m p an y, p u b l i s h e d a n n u a l l y ) .

(New Y o r k :

^ P o s t e r , C o m m e rcia l A r t and I n d u s t r y , A d v e r t i s i n g and S e l l i n g , an d o t h e r s •

12 m a g a z in e s.

In a d d itio n ,

th e tra d e

jo u rn a ls and b o o k le ts

p u b lis h e d by o r g a n i z a t i o n s have c o n tr i b u te d

sp e c ific

in fo rm a ­

t i o n u s u a l l y n o t fo u n d e ls e w h e r e . G en eral s u rv e y s .

E n c y c lo p a e d ia s and s i m il a r r e f e r e n c e

books have p ro v ed a so u rc e o f in fo rm a tio n f o r t h e s p e c i f i c su b je c t o f p o s te rs and about o th e r re la te d n e c e ssity , n a tu re ,

Of

t h e e n c y c l o p a e d i a a r t i c l e s m u s t be o f a g e n e r a l

th e E n c y c lo p a e d ia B r ita n n ic a s e rv e d a s a p o in t o f

d e p a r t u r e f o r m ore s p e c i f i c tio n s . th is

su b je c ts.

s tu d ie s and in d iv id u a l in v e s tig a ­

The a u t h o r s o f t h e a r t i c l e s

r e la tin g to p o ste rs in

e n c y c lo p a e d ia a r e w e ll-k n o w n a u t h o r i t i e s

in th e f i e l d s

o f a d v e r t i s i n g a n d p o s t e r w ork; t h e r e f o r e , t h e i r s t a t e m e n t s can be c o n s id e re d r e l i a b l e . U n p rin te d in fo rm a tio n . m en tio n ed ,

and stu d y o f p o s t e r s ,

of a d v e rtis in g .

ence in th e a d v e r tis in g f i e l d , in fo rm a tio n .

II.

fro m p e r s o n a l e x p e r i ­

have p ro v ed to

be v a l u a b l e

S i n c e m uch o f t h e p o s t e r a r t

c o u n try h as n o t a p p ea re d in i l l u s t r a t e d a v a ila b le o n ly in i t s

C arefu l o b se rv a tio n

f i n i s h e d and i n v a r i o u s s ta g e s o f p r o ­

a s w e l l a s k n o w le d g e r e s u l t i n g

first-h a n d

th e l i t e r a t u r e

i n f o r m a t i o n was o b t a i n e d by o b s e r v a t i o n a n d from

e x p e rie n c e in th e f i e l d

d u c tio n ,

In a d d itio n to

p u b lic a tio n s,

of th is it

is

o r i g i n a l fo rm .

A HISTORICAL STUDY OF POSTER ART BEFORE 1 9 0 0

The h i s t o r y

o f th e p o s t e r i s a h i s t o r y o f m an’s a r t .

13 The f a c t t h a t t h e p o s t e r i s t h e o l d e s t f o r m o f a r t i s t i c p re s s io n reco rd ed i s

u s u a lly o v e rlo o k e d .

e a r ly cave d w e lle rs ,

o r as P e n n e ll has s a id ,

ex­

I t d a t e s from t h e

. . , f r o m h i m ’who s t a y e d w i t h t h e women a n d s c r a t c h e d s t r a n g e f o r m s o n t h e w a l l s o f t h e c a v e * o r d re w th e m i n t h e w e t' c l a y o f a p o t , t h a t a l l m i g h t s e e a n d u n d e r s t a n d o f t h e w a r r i o r s , t h e h u n t e r s o r t h e g o d s . 12 T h u s i t m ay b e s a i d e a rlie s t

th a t th e p o s te r re p re s e n ts

c o n c e p tio n o f p u b l i c i t y ,

th e w o r ld ’ s

and t h a t o u td o o r a d v e r t is in g ,

w h ic h i s

c o n s i d e r e d sy n o n y m o u s w i t h p o s t e r a d v e r t i s i n g a n d 13 p u b l i c i t y , i s by f a r th e m o st a n c i e n t o f a i d s t o t r a d e . P o s te r s have been used in a l l a g e s .

One w r i t e r h a s

sta te d : The g r e a t e s t p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s w e re t h e A s s y r i a n s an d E g y p tia n s — and t h e i r p o s t e r s , c a rv e d o r p a in te d , th o u g h t h e r e w as o n l y o n e c o p y , w e r e n o t o n l y u n d e r s t o o d b y t h e p e o p l e o f t h e t i m e — b u t now a r e t h e m o s t v a l u a b l e a n d r e a l i s t i c r e c o r d s we p o s s e s s o f t h o s e t i m e s . 14 Today t h e i r m a s te r p ie c e s a r e a s u n d e r s ta n d a b le a s t h e y w ere th o u sa n d s o f y e a rs a g o .

They sp e a k i n t h e

u n iv e r s a l la n g u a g e —

a rt. B ib lic a l h is to ry p u b lic iz e d by p o s te r s ;

J.

i s cro w d ed w ith e v e n t s t h a t w ere b irth s

and d e a th s o f k in g s ,

12 J o s e p h P e n n e l l , L i b e r t y L o a n P o s t e r B . L i p p i n c o t t C om pany, 1 9 1 8 ) , p . 5*

d e d ic a tio n s

(P h ila d e lp h ia :

13 C a r l R i c h a r d C r e e r , A d v e r t i s i n g a n d I t s M e c h a n i c a l P r o d u c t i o n (New Y o r k : Thom as Y . C r o w e l l C om pany, 1 9 3 1 ) , p . 4 0 . 14 P e n n e l l ,

op. c i t .,

p.

5*

14 o f te m p le s, and ro y a l p ro c la m a tio n s ." ^ h e ld i n 1453 B .C .,

T he O ly m p ic gam es

in a l l p r o b a b ility had t h e i r p o s t e r s .1^

T he G r e e k s e m p l o y e d p o s t e r a r t on t h e F r i e z e P a rth e n o n .

o f th e

I n t h e m a r k e t - p l a c e s o f A t h e n s a n d i n t h e Roman

F o ru m p o s t e r s w e r e p l e n t i f u l .

T h e Romans a n n o u n c e d t o t h e

p u b l i c t h e i r gam es a n d f e s t i v a l s , w ar, and t h e i r l e g i s l a t i v e b o ard and t h e p o s t e r .

t h e i r p ro c la m a tio n s of

e n a c tm e n ts by m eans o f th e s i g n ­

P r o o f o f su ch p o s t e r a r t h a s been

s u b s t a n t i a t e d by t h e f i n d i n g s o f a r c h a e o l o g i s t s .^ 7 E a r l y p o s t e r a r t w as n o t l i m i t e d t o c i v i l i z e d w o rld .

th e s o -c a lle d

T he N o r t h A m e r i c a n I n d i a n s d r e w t h e i r

p o s t e r s o n a n i m a l s k i n s , n o o n e k n o w s f o r how l o n g ; f o r c e n t u r i e s th e J a p a n e s e and C h in e se h av e u sed p o s t e r s ;

th e

A la sk a n I n d i a n c r e a t e d h i s p o s t e r in th e u n u s u a l form o f a to te m p o l e . - ^

^ "When D a v i d t o o k J e r u s a l e m i n 1 0 4 8 B . C . , a n d w h e n S o l o m o n ’ s T e m p le w a s d e d i c a t e d i n 1 0 2 8 B . C . , J e r u s a l e m ’ s w a lls had p o s te rs t e l l i n g o f th e se e v e n ts . T here i s i n e x ­ i s t e n c e t o d a y i n t h e H a s k e l l O r i e n t a l M useum , on t h e c am p u s o f th e U n i v e r s i t y o f C h ica g o , a r e p l i c a o f a p u b l ic n o t i c e w h i c h w as o n c e i n H e r o d ’ s T e m p le a t J e r u s a l e m . T he o r i g i n a l i n s c r i p t i o n w as on a s u b s t a n t i a l b lo c k o f lim e s to n e a b o u t tw o f e e t h i g h a n d t h r e e f e e t w i d e . ’’ B u r t o n H a r r i n g t o n , op. c i t ., p. 126. 16 L o c . c i t . ^ " R e c e n t l y D r . D a v id M. R o b i n s o n , p r o f e s s o r o f a r c h a e o lo g y a t J o h n s H o p k in s U n i v e r s i t y , B a ltim o r e , u n e a r th e d s e v e r a l a n c ie n t p o s te r s o f P o m p e ii.” I b i d . , p . 1 2 7 . 1 8 ’’W h il e t h e E g y p t i a n s m ad e c a r v i n g s on s t o n e , t h e N o r t h A m e r i c a n I n d i a n s d r e w t h e i r p o s t e r s i n c o l o r on t h e s k in s o f a n im a ls, . . . ”

15 S in c e th e e a r l y d a y s o f C h r i s t i a n i t y , and a ls o

th e C h u rch —

t h e g o v e r n m e n t s — w e r e g r e a t p a t r o n s o f p o s t e r a r t . ^-9

The p e o p l e w e r e a b l e t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e t h i n g s t h e y saw b u t t h e m a j o r i t y o f th em c o u ld n o t r e a d o r w r i t e . b e c a m e m o re e d u c a t e d t h i s

When t h e m a s s e s

p a tro n a g e d e c l in e d and su c h r e l i ­

g i o u s p o s t e r m a k in g w as g iv e n up , o r r e l e g a t e d t o t h e

c ir­

cuses • In th e f i f t e e n t h g r e a t e s t im p e tu s— th e

c e n tu ry th e p o s te r re c e iv e d i t s 20 in v e n tio n o f p r i n ti n g . By m e a n s o f

t h e p r i n t i n g p r e s s m ore p e o p le w e re a b l e t o s e e a n n o u n c e m e n ts a t o n e t i m e , a n d t h u s t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e p o s t e r w as i n ­ c r e a s e d m an y f o l d .

As f a r a s

i s known, t h e f i r s t

p rin te d

p o s t e r i n E n g l a n d w a s m ade b y C a x t o n i n 1 4 8 0 . Ho w e v e r , i t

(c o n tin u e d ) T,T h e A l a s k a n I n d i a n c r e a t e d a n u n u s u a l p o s t e r i n t h e f o r m o f w h a t we c a l l a t o t e m p o l e . ” I b i d . » p . 1 2 8 . -**9 " B u t f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f C h r i s t i a n i t y t h e p e o p l e g o t t h e i r i d e a s o f h e a v e n a n d h e l l , t h e M adonna a n d t h e s a i n t s , d e v i l s a n d d e m o n s , G-od a n d C h r i s t , n o t f r o m b o o k s o r p r e a c h e r s , b u t fro m p o s t e r s c a l l e d a l t a r p i e c e s , w in d o w s, c a r v i n g s a n d s h r i n e s , a n d t h e y u n d e r s t o o d w h a t t h e y saw . . . . , f o r t h e s u b j e c t s w e r e r e a l t o t h e m . And t h e y saw p o s t e r s i n t h e c h u r c h e s , t h e t e m p l e s , t h e to w n h a l l s , t h e g r a v e y a r d s , by th e ro a d — and th e y u n d e rs to o d th e m .” P e n n e ll, o p . c i t . , p. 5. ' 20

”. . . C o s t e r , a t H aarlem , H o lla n d , p r i n t e d w ith s i n g l e t y p e s i n 1 4 3 8 A . D . , a n d G u t e n b e r g , a t M a i n x , G e rm a n y , in v e n te d c u t m e ta l t y p e s , 1 4 5 0 -1 4 5 5 *" H a r r in g to n , o p . c i t . , p . 12 7 * 21 ”T h e f i r s t p r i n t e d p o s t e r w h i c h a p p e a r e d i n E n g l a n d , a s f a r a s we k n o w , w a s m ade b y C a x t o n i n 1 4 8 0 , s e t t i n g f o r t h

16 w as n e a r l y tw o c e n t u r i e s b e f o r e v ita l

f a c t o r i n m a r k e t i n g . 22

t h e p r i n t e d p o s t e r becam e a

A lth o u g h th e g e n e r a l u se o f

p o s t e r s w as f o r b id d e n d u r in g th e

se v e n te e n th c e n tu ry , o f f i ­

c i a l r e s t r i c t i o n s w e re i n tim e rem o v ed a n d t h e f i r s t p i c ­ t o r i a l p o s t e r s m ade t h e i r a p p e a r a n c e .

T h ese w ere i l l u s t r a t e d

by Y jfo o d -c u ts .^

illu stra tio n s

T he s i m p l e ,

p rim itiv e

u s e d on

th e w ood -cut p o s t e r s p o ss e s se d a c e r t a i n c h a r a c te r t h a t h as in s p ir e d and in flu e n c e d th e a r t

of p o s te r d e sig n e rs e v e r

sin c e . T he i n v e n t i o n o f l i t h o g r a p h y i n 1 7 9 6 w as a n o t h e r im p o rta n t s te p in

th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f th e d e s i g n i n g a n d 24 p rin tin g of p o ste rs. T h i s n ew m ed iu m w a s d e s t i n e d t o ' s u p e r ­ se d e th e w o o d -c u t, a lth o u g h th e f i r s t lith o g r a p h e d p o s t e r d id n o t p o s s e s s th e s tr e n g th o f th e e a r l i e r w o o d -c u ts.

L ith o g ra ­

p h y , h o w e v e r , w a s a m e a n s o f d e v e l o p i n g a m o re d e t a i l e d ,

2*^ ( c o n t i n u e d ) t h e E a s t e r r u l e s f o r t h e p r i e s t s o f S a l i s b u r y . " W ilm o t L i p p i n c o t t , O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g (Hew Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l Book Com pany, I n c . , 1 9 2 3 ) , P • 1 6 . 22 " B u t i t w a s n o t u n t i l tw o c e n t u r i e s l a t e r , when t h e p r i n t i n g p r e s s b e c a m e common a n d e d u c a t i o n m o re g e n e r a l , t h a t t h e p r i n t e d p o s t e r b e ca m e a p o w e r f u l f a c t o r i n m a r k e t ­ i n g , a n d u s u r p e d t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e to w n c r i e r . " - L o o . c i t . 23 A l e x a n d e r S t o d d a r t arid P e r c y V . B r a d s h a w , " P o s t e r , ” E n c y c l o p a e d i a B r i t a n n i c a . 1 4 t h e d i t i o n , H V I I I , 319* 24 " i n v e n t e d i n 1 7 9 6 , a n d d e v e l o p e d f o r p r i n t i n g p u r p o s e s b y S e n e f e l d e r , t h e new a r t o f d r a w i n g a n d e n g r a v i n g on s t o n e , m e t a l p l a t e s a n d t r a n s f e r 1 p a p e r s , o p e n e d up p o s s i b i l i t i e s a lm o s t a s v a s t a s t h o s e w h ic h f o llo w e d t h e i n ­ v e n tio n o f th e p r i n ti n g p r e s s ." Loc. c i t .

e l a b o r a t e fo rm o f i l l u s t r a t i o n , a n d i t e a rlie st

in F rance t h a t

th e

lith o g ra p h e d p o s te r s o f q u a lity a p p e a re d .2 ^

The m odern p o s t e r m an.

is

began w ith J u l e s C h e re t, a F re n c h ­

He m ay b e c a l l e d , w i t h o u t c o n t r a d i c t i o n ,

o f t h e m o d e r n p o s t e r . " 2 *^

B orn i n P a r i s

” th e f a th e r

in 1836, a s e lf -

t a u g h t d ra u g h tsm a n , he s e r v e d h i s a p p r e n t i c e s h i p a s a l i t h o g ­ rap h er.

At th e age of t h i r t y h is

i n t e r e s t w as a r o u s e d by

a n n o u n c e m e n ts o f t h e a t r i c a l m a n a g e rs a n d p l a c a r d s f o r arm y re c ru itin g o f f ic ia ls .

At t h a t

tim e t h e s e w ere t h e o n ly

p i c t o r i a l a d v e r tis e m e n ts and t h e s e no d o u b t i n f lu e n c e d C h e r e t . 2 ** I n I 867 t h e w o r l d saw t h e f i r s t m o d e r n p o s t e r . was a p o s t e r by C h e r e t ; f a i r y p la y ,

T h is

a t h e a t r i c a l announcem ent f o r a

"L a B i c h e a u B o i s , " f e a t u r i n g t h e f a m o u s A m e r i c a n

a c t r e s s , S a r a h B e r n h a r d t , w ho w as t h e n o n l y t w e n t y - t w o y e a r s 29 o ld . F r a n c e h a d a r t i s t i c p o s t e r s b e f o r e C h e r e t 1s , b u t n o n e 25

S t o d d a r t a n d B radshaw , l o c . c i t .

26

"T h e p o s t e r d e l i b e r a t e l y d e s i g n e d f o r a t t e n t i o n b y a n a r t i s t w h o s e a r t w a s c o m b in e d w i t h a d v e r t i s i n g s e n s e . ” P r e s b r e y , o p . c i t . , p . 495* H a rrin g to n ,

op. c i t ., p.

129-

^ ”A t t h a t t i m e o n l y t h e a t r i c a l a n d c i r c u s m a n a g e r s a n d arm y r e c r u i t i n g o f f i c i a l s u se d p i c t o r i a l a d v e r t i s e m e n t s , and i t i s s a i d t h a t fro m t h e s e J u l e s C h e re t r e c e i v e d h i s f i r s t su g g e stio n o f th e p o s s i b i l i t y of a d a p tin g a r t t o ad ­ v e r tis in g .” Loc. c i t . 29 s t o d d a r t a n d B r a d s h a w ,

op.

cit.,

p.

319•

18 o f th e m w e r e a t t r a c t i v e

e n o u g h t o m ak e p a s s e r s - b y g i v e th e m

m o re t h a n a p a s s i n g g l a n c e * a n d a t t r a c t e d m uch a t t e n t i o n ,

( g h e r e t 's p o s t e r s w ere a r r e s t i n g , y e t w ere e x c e p tio n a lly a r t i s t i c

H i s w o r k w a s m uch i n d e m a n d , a n d d u r i n g h i s

c a r e e r o f some

f o r t y y e a r s C h e r e t d e s i g n e d m o re t h a n a t h o u s a n d p o s t e r s ^ The b e s t o f th em h a v e b e e n r e p r o d u c e d o f t e n trie s

i n m any c o u n ­

(P la te I I ) . ^ F e a t u r e s o f C h e r e t ’s p o s t e r s w ere h i s

e y e -a rre stin g

c o l o r s c h e m e s a n d t h e a c t i o n i n h i s hum an f i g u r e s ^ f e a t u r e s a l o n e com m anded a t t e n t i o n *

To c i t e a n e x a m p l e ,

p o s t e r h e m ad e f o r a t o y m a n u f a c t u r e r f e a t u r i n g c h ild re n s till

T hese th e

ro llic k in g

d e m a n d e d much a t t e n t i o n w h e r e v e r d i s p l a y e d , a n d i s

c o n sid e re d an e x c e p tio n a lly f in e

p i e c e o f m odern p o s t e r

art• G h e r e t ' s new a r t a c h i e v e d g r e a t p o p u l a r i t y a n d s o o n o th e r a r t i s t s

e n te re d th e f i e l d

o f p o s t e r d e s i g n in g * ^F rom

P a r i s t h i s n ew s t y l e o f p o s t e r a r t and in to n e ig h b o rin g c o u n tr ie s ,

sp re a d th ro u g h o u t F ran ce

a c r o s s th e C hannel to E n g la n d J

and fro m E u ro p e to t h e U n ite d S ta te s ^ ) H o lla n d ,

Ita ly ,

S p a in , and m o st o f th e c o u n t r i e s o f E u ro p e

b e c a m e p a r t o f t h i s new s c h o o l , 30

f

G e rm a n y , S w i t z e r l a n d ,

b u t th e a r t i s t s

,

o f P a ris

"• • m ade l o n g b e f o r e t h e t i m e w h en f i n e m o d e r n a d v e r t i s i n g p s y c h o l o g y i s s u p p o s e d t o h a v e f i r s t come i n t o i l l u s t r a t i o n , w i l l com pare f a v o r a b l y a s an a d v e r t i s i n g i l l u s ­ t r a t i o n w i t h t h e b e s t - t h o u g h t w o rk o f a d v e r t i s i n g a r t i s t s o f 1 9 2 8 i n a n y m e d i u m ." P r e s b r e y , o j) . c i t .» p p . 4 9 5 - 4 9 6 .

19 c o n t i n u e d t o l e a d t h e way* C heret,

T hat n o t a b l e g ro u p headed by

and in c lu d in g S te in le n ,

T o u lo u se-L au trec, m asterp ieces,

G rasset,

wa s p r o d u c i n g p o s t e r s

Bonnard, and t h a t w ere l it h o g r a p h i c

a n d many o f t h e i r d e s i g n s h a v e n e v e r b e e n e x ­

c e lle d .^ E u g e n e G r a s s e t a n d S t e i n l e n h a v e b e e n r e g a r d e d b y some c ritic s as

su p erio r to

S w itzerlan d ,

th e m aster*

G rasset,

p r o d u c e d " N a p o l e o n i n E g y p t " a n d " J e a n n e d ’A r c , "

( P l a te V ), b o th r e g a r d e d as su p e rb p o s t e r s . famous and b e s t c r e a t i o n , p o rtray in g a ch ild by t h r e e p o sters

S t e i n l e n ’s m ost

"L ait Pur S t e r i l i s e ,"

(P la te I I I ) ,

in a r e d d r e s s d r i n k i n g fro m a bow l, e n v ie d

tab by c a t s , ever

a n a tiv e of

i s p e rh a p s one o f th e m ost s t r i k i n g

p r o d u c e d .

32

T h is p o s t e r had a g r e a t vogue in

b o th F ra n ce and E n gland and a lth o u g h " th e o b v io u s n e s s o f S t e i n l e n ’ s w o r k w o u l d h a r d l y commend i t t o m o d e r n t a s t e , behind h is r e a l i s t i c and g r o u p i n g . "33

stu d ies lie s

consum m ate a r t

but

in se le c tio n

The i n f l u e n c e o f T o u l o u s e - L a u t r e c ’ s d e s i g n s ,

( P la te IV ), had n g re a t

i n f l u e n c e on t h e w ork o f t h a t t im e

a n d o n m an y a d e s i g n e r s i n c e .

31 J o n e s , o p . p i t . , 32 H a r r i n g t o n ,

He h a s b e e n c a l l e d

"the a p o stle

p. 2.

op. p i t . ,

p . 130.

33 S t a n l e y R o w l a n d , . " M a s t e r s o f t h e P o s t e r — S t e i n l e n , " C o m m e r c i a l A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 16:138, A p r i l , 1934*

20 o f t h e n e w P o s t e r . ” 34

W ith su c h a r t i s t s

m asterp ieces of p o ste r a r t , F ra n c e was t h e th e b a sis

it

as th ese d esig n in g

i s n o t d i f f i c u l t t o s e e why

c e n t e r o f t h i s new s c h o o l o f a r t a n d p r o v i d e d

o f a new s p i r i t

on t h e d i s p l a y b o a r d s .

I n E n g lan d th e f i r s t

p o s t e r t o a t t r a c t a t t e n t i o n was

m ad e b y F r e d W a l k e r f o r t h e d r a m a t i c v e r s i o n o f W i l k i e C o l l i n ’ s "Woman i n W h i t e ” i n I S 7 I , lowed by o t h e r a r t i s t i c

p o sters

(P la te I)»

T h i s was f o l ­

by s u c h d e s i g n e r s a s A u b re y

B e a r d s le y , W a lte r C ran e, D udley H ardy, and l a t e r t h e " B e g g a r s t a f f B r o t h e r s , ” 35 ( P l a t e ¥ 1 ) . The m o d e rn p o s t e r , U nited S ta te s

how ever, d id n o t a p p ea r i n th e

u n t i l 1889*

P r i o r to t h i s tim e m ost o f t h e

A m erican p o s t e r s a d v e r t i s e d t h e c i r c u s and t h e t h e a t e r . of th e

One

e a r l i e s t p o s t e r m a k e r s w a s M a t t M o r g a n , f o r some t i m e

th e head of a C in c in n a ti lith o g ra p h ic firm . t e r s had t h e i r o r ig in

These e a r l y p o s ­

in th e o ld c irc u s and t h e a t r i c a l

p r i n t e d from wooden b l o c k s .

b ills

By t h e y e a r 1 8 0 0 t h e c i r c u s h a d

b e c o m e t h e p r i n c i p a l u s e r o f o u t d o o r a d v e r t i s i n g a n d f o r m an y

34 " T h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e r a d i c a l d e s i g n s o f T o u l o u s e L a u t r e c d u r i n g t h a t p e r i o d p a s s e d l i k e a comet o v e r t h e m a j o r p a r t o f t h e W estern h e m isp h e re. He b e c a m e t h e a p o s t l e o f t h e new P o s t e r . H is a d m ir a t io n f o r t h e J a p a n e s e p r i n t am ounted a lm o st t o w o rs h ip : he d id n o t , how ever, i m i t a t e . ” K a u f f e r , op. c i t ., p. x. 35

’’L a t e r cam e t h e ’B e g g a r s t a f f B r o t h e r s ’ ( t h e n o n d e plum e u s e d by Ja m es P r y d e and W i l l i a m N i c h o l s o n ) w i t h t h e i r grave a r t i s t i c e f f e c t s in b la c k and b r o r n , m ost i n t e r e s t i n g o f th e m odern p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s . ” H a r r i n g t o n , op. p i t . , p . 131.

21 y e a r s l e d i n t h e developm ent o f p o s t e r p u b l i c i t y . ^ A fte r h is en tran ce

in to the

show b u s i n e s s

in 1840,

B a r n u m w a s t h e g r e a t e s t i n f l u e n c e o n o u t d o o r a d v e r t i s i n g in* A m erica,

c h ie f ly because of th e

in c re a se in th e s iz e of p o s te rs , tio n s.

37

and t h e u se o f i l l u s t r a ­

H is r e a lis m gave t h e p i c t o r i a l p o s t e r i t s

s tro n g im pulse.

m ere p o r t r a i t s . p o sters;

first

A s h o r t tim e l a t e r t h e a t r i c a l p o s t e r s began

to d e p ic t the a c to r s

to ria l

i n n o v a t i o n s he made; t h e

in t h e i r ro le s in stea d of disp lay in g

O th er a d v e r t i s e r s soon i m ita te d th e s e p i c ­ th u s,

clo th in g ,

p a te n t m edicines,

and o t h e r

com m odities w ere w id e ly a d v e r t i s e d . Many o f t h e

e a r l y p o s t e r s were m ore o r l e s s

p r i n t e d announcem ents, t h e

sort of p o ster,

was u s e d i n t h e s e c o n d L i n c o l n p o l i t i c a l

ju st

fo r in stan ce,

th at

c a m p a i g n o f 1 8 6 4 **^

T h a t p o s t e r was a good exam ple o f l i t h o g r a p h y and d i d n o t

36 P r e s b r e y ,

op.

c i t .,

p . 493*

37 "One o f B a r n u m Ts f i r s t d e m a n d s o n h i s p r i n t e r w a s f o r a head o f h i m s e l f f o u r tim e s t h e s i z e o f a n y y e t made. T h e r e s u l t w a s a h e a d o f B a r n u m 2 4 b y 36 i n c h e s , w h i c h r e ­ c e i v e d a trem en d o u s amount o f a t t e n t i o n w h e re v e r p o s t e d . S o o n t h e l a r g e p o r t r a i t o f B a rn u m w a s a p p e a r i n g w i t h a f l e s h t i n t , ad d in g c o lo r to o u td o o r d is p l a y s , and p r e s e n t l y h is f r e a k s w e r e p i c t u r e d o n p o s t e d b i l l s . ” I b i d . , p . 499* 33 " . . . a c o p y o f w h i c h i s now i n t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f a f o r m e r New Y o r k j u r i s t . I t is p r in te d in blue and re d , th e p o s te r f i v e - f e e t high and th r e e f e e t w ide. A b o rd er of s t a r s and s h i e l d s in re d and b lu e around th e e n t i r e p o s t e r .enclosed t h e p r i n t e d m a t t e r an d u n d e r th e h e a d in g "U nion N o m in a tio n s ” a p p e a re d an e a g le and s h i e l d . ” H a r r in g to n , op. p i t . , p . 130.

d i f f e r m uch f r o m t h e o r d i n a r y p r i n t e d a n n o u n c e m e n t o f t h e p r e s e n t tim e* W ood-cuts, how ever,

co n tin u ed

to be u s e d f o r o u t d o o r

a d v e r t i s i n g , w h i l e l i t h o g r a p h y w as m a k in g p r o g r e s s i n work f o r use in d o o rs . from 1880, the

The f i r s t

lith o g rap h y of b illb o a rd s

d ates 39 b e g i n n i n g w i t h a d v e r t i s e m e n t s o f t h e drama* In

same y e a r M a t t M o r g a n a n d s e v e r a l a r t i s t s w e r e e n g a g e d t o

make m o s t e r s f o r t h e l i t h o g r a p h i c

sto n e.

The m o d e r n A m e r i c a n p o s t e r r e a l l y b e g a n i n t h e e a r l y 1 8 9 0 ’ s w i t h t h e w o r k o f L o u i s R h e a d a n d W i l l H. B r a d l e y .

In

t h e y e a r 1890 Rhead d e s i g n e d a p o s t e r f o r H a r p e r ’ s M a g a z in e . ^ L a t e r h e m ad e a l a r g e a n d s t r i k i n g o n e f o r u s e on t h e b i l l ­ b o a r d s by a w a s h i n g p o w d e r c o m p a n y . ^

H is m a g a z in e work in

p o s t e r s t y l e f o r a n o t h e r s o a p company was n o t a b l e . a n d - w h i t e w o rk o f W i l l H. B r a d l e y ,

s i m i l a r to B e a r d s le y ’s

w o r k i n E n g l a n d , a p p e a r e d on t h e b i l l b o a r d s l

1890’s.

T he b l a c k -

in th e

early

p

The

w o r k o f R h e a d a n d B r a d l e y w a s m u ch i n d e m a n d ,

39 « . # . w h e n t h e C o u r i e r C om pany i n B u f f a l o m a d e f o r ’’U n c l e Tom’ s C a b i n ’’ a f o u r f o o t p o s t e r s h o w i n g t h e b l o o d h o u n d s c h a s in g E l i z a o v e r th e i c e . ” P r e s b r e y , o p . c i t . . p . 502.

4-0 Ibid.. p. 497W- " . . . f o r u s e b y P e a r l i n e f l a s h i n g P o w d e r o n t h e b i l l b o a r d s , show ing a g i r l in a r e d - a n d - g r e e n d r e s s p i n n in g a s h e e t on a c l o t h e s l i n e , p r o b a b l y t h e e a r l i e s t t r u e p o s t e r i n c o l o r s by an A m erican a r t i s t . ” L o o , c i t . 42 "fpkQ b i c y c l e m a n u f a c t u r e r s w e r e t h e f i r s t t o e m p l o y p o s t e r s on b i l l b o a r d s . T h e i r e n g a g e m e n t o f B r a d l e y made h i s a r t kn o w n t o t h e man i n t h e s t r e e t a n d f i r s t s u g g e s t e d t h e u s e o f th e p i c t o r i a l p o s t e r to th e b r e a k f a s t- f o o d m aker and o th e r g e n eral a d v e r t i s e r s . ” Loc. c i t .

23 b e in g u se d by t h e p u b l i s h i n g i n d u s t r y f o r announcem ents o f m agazines and books,

( P la te s V III and X ).

At a b o u t t h e

same

tim e Edward P e n f i e l d and ? / i l l C a r q u e v i l l e w ere a l s o d o in g p o s t e r s f o r m agazine c o v e rs and n ew sstan d d i s p l a y s . Edward P e n f i e l d ,

c o n s i d e r e d b y some G r i t i c s a s t h e

ou tstan d in g p o ste r desig n er of t h i s

era,

estab lish ed a fin e

r e p u t a t i o n w i t h h i s p o s t e r s f o r H a r p e r ys M a g a z i n e , a s i n P l a t e X I.

P e n f i e l d ’s p o s t e r s had a c e r t a i n re fin e m e n t and

lig h tn e ss,

y e t w e re n o t weak i n a n y s e n s e .

They show u n m is ­

ta k a b ly t h a t th e y a re from th e hand o f a d e s ig n e r of excepI o

tio n a l a b ility , still

g ifte d w ith th e

tru e

sense.

H is work i s

c o n s i d e r e d t h e e q u a l o f a n y p r o d u c e d by t h e

e a rly p o ste r d esig n ers

in t h is

The work o f P e n f i e l d ,

co u n try ,

B rad ley ,

b e s t o f the

(P la te X II)#

R head, a n d o t h e r s was

n o t l i m i t e d t o m a g a z i n e a n d s m a l l d i s p l a y work.44

The. American

b i l l b o a r d a s a g a l l e r y f o r r e a l a r t was slow i n c o m p a riso n t o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f o t h e r a r t mediums#

In tim e , how ever, th e

4 3 f»sdward P e n f i e l d a n d W i l l H . B r a d l e y w e r e t h e p i o n ­ e e r s o f a r t i s t i c p o s t e r a d v e r t i s i n g in A m erica. • • and had he [ P e n f i e l d ] n o t c o n fin e d h i m s e l f t o i s s u i n g m on th ly b i l l s f o r ’H a r p e r ’ s M a g a z i n e , ’ h e m i g h t h a v e g a i n e d r e n o w n i n t h e w orld a t l a r g e a s one o f i t s l e a d i n g p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s . ” S t a n l e y R o w l a n d , ’’M a s t e r s o f t h e P o s t e r — E d w a r d P e n f i e l d a n d W i l l H. B r a d l e y , ” C o m m e r c i a l .A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 1 6 : 3 4 - 3 5 , J a n u a r y , 1934* 4 4 rtqiQ b i l l b o a r d s , t o o , came t h e M axfield P a r r i s h , th e Leyendecker B ro th e rs , • . . a n d o t h e r s whose a r t w o rk h a d e a r l i e r ment in t h e m agazine p a g e s . ” P r e s b r e y , op.

503 .

work o f P e n f i e l d , Horman R o c k w e l l , pro v id ed en jo y ­ c i t . , pp. 502-

24 laym an w h e n e v e r he v e n t u r e d o n to t h e s t r e e t was e x p o se d t o th e s t r i k i n g c o lo r com binations o f th e p u re p o s t e r a d v e r t is e ­ m ents of m a s te r c ra fts m e n ,

lik e

the l a t e

C oles P h i l l i p s ,

w hich w ere s e e n on th e b i l l b o a r d s a s w e l l a s in t h e p e r i o d i ­ cals. Im provem ent o f o u t d o o r p o s t e r a r t , 90*s w ith B r a d l e y ^

sta rte d

in the

b i c y c l e p o s t e r s , was one f e a t u r e o f t h e

p r o g r e s s b e i n g made to w a r d more r e f i n e d a n d d i g n i f i e d b i l l ­ board p o s t e r s . ^

By t h e

end o f t h e

c e n t u r y t h e p o s t e r was

f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d an d p o s t e r a r t h a d become i m p o r t a n t t o m e r i t t h e work o f su c h n o t e d a r t i s t s C h risty ,

enough

a s Howard C h a n d l e r

l a m e s M o n tg o m ery F l a g g , C h a r l e s Dana G-ibson, a n d

M axfield P a r r i s h .

w. . • t h e r e h a d come a c e n s o r s h i p w h i c h b a r r e d t h e b u r l e s q u e show a n d t h e m ore l u r i d d ra m a fr o m t h e b o a r d s o f t h e m o r e r e s p o n s i b l e c o n c e r n s . ” I b i d . » p . 503*

CHAPTER I I I THE DEVELOPMENT OF STYLE IN AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0 One o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e s o f a n y p o s t e r i s its

sty le*

As s t a t e d b e f o r e ,

ex p ressio n th a t d e p ic ts

sty le

the a r t i s t ’s s p i r i t

T h i s w o u ld n e c e s s a r i l y mean t h a t th ere are a r t i s t s , h is

sty le

i s t h e mode o r m a n n e r o f

t h e r e a r e a s m any s t y l e s

o r even m ore s i n c e

from tim e to tim e .

and f a c u l t y . as

t h e a r t i s t m ay v a r y

H o w e v e r , m any o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l

s t y l e s may b e s i m i l a r a n d c a n b e i n c l u d e d i n o n e b r o a d c l a s s i ­ fic a tio n .

To c i t e a n e x a m p l e :

in d iv id u al s ty le s

th at are r e a l i s t i c ,

be grouped under t h e g e n e ra l a rt,

as in p ain tin g ,

t h e i r work,

t h e r e m a y b e a g r e a t m an y y e t a l l o f t h e s e m ight

t e r m o f " r e a l i s m . ” -**

So i n p o s t e r

a r t i s t s may d i f f e r f r o m o n e a n o t h e r i n

y e t t h e w ork may b e l o n g t o one p a r t i c u l a r t r e n d

o r m ovem ent. W h ile t h e r e h av e b e en many s c h o o l s o f p a i n t i n g i n t h e tw e n tie th cen tu ry , what l i m i t e d

t h e s t y l e s o f p o s t e r a r t h a v e b een som e­

innnum ber.

T h is, p erh ap s,

h a s been due t o

the

l i m i t a t i o n s p l a c e d upon t h e a r t by i n d u s t r y . "A rt f o r a r t ’s 2 sake" h a s p e r m itte d t h e p a i n t e r t o e x p re s s h im s e lf a s he

**• S e e g l o s s a r y f o r d e f i n i t i o n o f t h i s a n d a l l o t h e r te c h n ic a l term s. 2 A rt to ex p re ss th e a r t i s t ’s th o u g h ts and f e e l in g s w i t h l i t t l e o r no r e g a r d f o r a c c e p t a n c e by th e p u b l i c i s co m m o n ly k n o w n a s a r t f o r a r t ’ s s a k e .

26 w ish e s, w h ile th e p o s te r d e s ig n e r has been h e ld d i r e c t l y resp o n sib le

to th e a d v e r t i s e r and th e p u b lic .

has d ic ta te d th e accep tab le

sty les

of p o ste r d esig n and suc­

c e s s f u l d e s i g n e r s do n o t o f t e n d i s r e g a r d in g e n e ra l, article.

P u b lic t a s t e

them .

The p u b l i c ,

d o e s n o t a c c e p t r a d i c a l ch an g e s i n any d e sig n e d

T h is becomes e v i d e n t i n t h e g r a d u a l change i n t h e

s t y l i n g o f a u to m o b ile s and c l o t h i n g . The s t y l e o f b y two

great fo rces

in d u stry . P e rio d ,"

one c r i t i c ,

re a listic ,

and sym bolic p o in t,

in th e t w e n ti e t h c e n tu ry , th e a r t s and

"The p o s t e r h a d i t s sta te s

ro m an tic,

p o s t e r a r t i n A m erica h a s been i n f l u e n c e d

b eg in n in g in th e F a c to ry

"and has k ept i t s

im p re ssio n istic,

art of its

p e rio d s."

c u b istic,

fu tu ristic,

He f u r t h e r s t r e s s e s

" t h a t w h a t e v e r t h e A r t M ovem ent, . i t

w ill in d icate a l l

pace w ith the

is

the

a m o v em en t a n d

o r some p a r t o f a u n i v e r s a l t r e n d w h i c h

c a n n o t be i g n o r e d by b u s i n e s s a n d i s n e v e r i g n o r e d by t h e 3 g e n e r a l p u b l i c . T h u s i t may be s a i d t h a t p o s t e r a r t i s i n f l u e n c e d by a r t tren d of th e

s t y l e s w hich a r e

i n t u r n i n f l u e n c e d by t h e

tim es.

I n d u s t r y h a s a l s o had a s t r o n g , the a r t

of t h e p o s t e r .

Of n e c e s s i t y ,

u p -to -th e-m in u te c o u rie r of p u b lic ity .

d irect

i n f l u e n c e on

t h e p o s t e r m ust be an It

i s o ften th e

ad­

v a n c e a g e n t o f a new p r o d u c t o r i n d u s t r i a l m o v e m e n t , a n d 3

L e o n a r d G. S t e v e n s o n , " M o d e r n a n d S y m b o l i c O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g D e s i g n , " A d v e r t i s i n g O u td o o r s , 1 : 1 8 , November. 1930.

27 th e r e f o re , m ast keep a b re a s t o f th e tim e s.

New m a t e r i a l s

a n d p r o c e s s e s h a v e p r o d u c e d n ew t e c h n i q u e s a n d h a v e a f f e c t e d sty le.

To s a y a r b i t r a r i l y

th at

e ith e r a r t o r in d u s try has

had t h e g r e a t e r i n f l u e n c e w ould be p r a c t i c a l l y s i n c e t h e s e tw o g r e a t f a c t o r s a r e The s t y l e

in te rrelate d .

o f A m erican p o s t e r a r t

c e n t u r y may b e b r o a d l y d i v i d e d i n t o (1)

th e e a rly years,

war y e a rs ,

and

(3)

im p o ssib le

in th e tw e n tie th

th ree perio d s,

( 2 ) t h e p r e - w a r , W o r l d War I ,

nam ely: and p o s t­

t h e m o d e r n p e r i o d t o D e c e m b e r 1 9 41*

X. THE EARLY YEARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY^ I n E u r o p e t h e s o - c a l l e d G-olden Age o f t h e p o s t e r la ste d

a p p ro x im ately a g e n e ra tio n ,

fro m 1880 t o 1 9 0 0 .

Americans

g r e a t e r p o s t e r e ra began a b o u t a decade l a t e r th a n E u ro p e * s, w i th th e A m erican p o s t e r a c q u i r i n g g r e a t p o p u l a r i t y a t t h e o f the cen tu ry . th is

A lth o u g h t h e m odern p o s t e r had a p p e a re d i n

co u n try o n ly te n y ears b e fo re ,

progress

th at

i t m erited

by 1 9 0 0 i t h a d made s u c h

the a t t e n t i o n

of both businessm en

and a r t i s t s . P o ster a rt

tu rn

in

th e e a r l y 1900*s was,

p articu la rly a rtis tic .^

How ever,

as a w hole, n o t

t h e work o f a few o f th e

^ T h e t e r m * * e a r l y years** r e f e r s t o t h e f i r s t t e n o r tw elv e y e a rs o f the c e n tu r y . 5 "The f i r s t a d v e r t i s i n g p o s t e r s w e re h o p e l e s s l y i n ­ a r t i s t i c a n d t h e f i r s t a r t i s t i c . p o s t e r s w e re h o p e l e s s l y im­ p r a c tic a l as a d v ertisem en ts. T h e r e w e re e x c e p t i o n s on b o t h s i d e s , o f course.** B u r t o n H a r r i n g t o n , The E s s e n t i a l s o f P o s te r D e sig n , p. 123.

28 p io neer d e sig n ers,

l i k e Edward P e n f i e l d ,

L o u i s Rhead was t h e e x c e p t i o n ,

W i l l H. B r a d l e y ,

b e in g good p o s t e r a r t from t h e

sta n d p o in t of both th e a r t i s t and th e a d v e r tis e r . f e r e n t in c h a ra c te r,

and

Very d i f ­

t h e i r work r e f l e c t e d t h e i r d i f f e r e n t

t r a i n i n g and e n v iro n m en ts. P en field possessed d iv id u al ta le n t

such a n a t u r a l and s tr o n g ly

in ­

t h a t h i s o r i g i n a l i t y was n o t i m p a i r e d by h i s

s t u d y o f t h e work o f p r e v i o u s m a s t e r s o f th e p o s t e r .

As o n e

a u th o r has expressed i t : I n c o m p o s itio n and d ra u g h ts m a n sh ip h e a c h ie v e d a p e r f e c t c o m b in a tio n o f q u a l i t i e s draw n from t h e s a l i e n c e o f the s ilh o u e tte , th e f l a t p e rs p e c tiv e of th e Japanese, th e s i m p l i c i t y o f t h e B e g g a r s t a f f s , and t h e f o r c e f u l n e s s o f L au trec. I n f a c t , w h i l e a d m i t t i n g th e suprem e g e n iu s o f the French m a s te r and h i s p r i o r i t y in th e c r e a tio n of p o s t e r a r t , i t i s n o t t o o m uch t o s a y t h a t P e n f i e l d , i n t h e m ore com m onplace s p h e r e s o f l i f e f ro m w h ic h h i s s u b ­ j e c t s w ere draw n, e x h i b i t e d a g e n iu s a p p ro a c h in g t h e sa m e c l a s s o f g r e a t n e s s ; a n d h a d h e n o t a l m o s t c o n f i n e d h i m s e l f t o i s s u i n g m o n t h l y b i l l s f o r ’H a r p e r ’ s M a g a z i n e , ’ h e m i g h t h a v e g a i n e d r e n o w n i n t h e w o r l d a t l a r g e a s one o f i t s lead in g p o ste r d e sig n e rs. 6 In P e n f i e l d ’ s p o s t e r t h e A m erican y o u th o f th e tim e w ere p o r t r a y e d in a b r e e z y ,

i f none too f l a t t e r i n g , m anner,

u s u a l l y i n some f o r m o f r e c r e a t i o n .

In a d d itio n h is in tr o ­

d u c t i o n o f a n i m a l s was a lw a y s h a p p y ,

e s p e c ia lly the r a b b it,

w h ich f i g u r e d p r o m in e n tly i n s e v e r a l o f h i s p o s t e r s t o add j u s t t h e r i g h t n o t e o f p l a y f u l hum or.

6

Thus th e k e y n o te o f

The s o u r c e f o r t h i s a n d t h e f o l l o w i n g p a r a g r a p h w a s S t a n l e y R o w l a n d , ’’M a s t e r s o f t h e P o s t e r — E d w a r d P e n f i e l d a nd W i l l H. B r a d l e y , " C o m m e r c i a l A r t a n d I n d u s t r y . 1 6 : 3 4 - 3 5 , J a n u a r y , 1934*

2:9 h i s w ork was a l i g h t n e s s t h a t gave h i s attitu d e

ch aracters a c e rta in

o f h a p p in ess p re se n te d in a r e a l i s t i c

sty le,

(P late

XI) . B r a d l e y ’ s w o rk showed a r e m a r k a b l e v a r i e t y and h i s

c o u ra g e i n p i o n e e r i n g so o f t e n was a l l

T h ere was a d e f i n i t e not u n lik e

th at

in

su b ject,

to h is c r e d i t .

r e f in e m e n t a b o u t m ost of h i s d e s i g n s ,

o f the B u rn e-Jo n es sch o o l o f i l l u s t r a t o r s .

He m ade g r e a t u s e o f t h e s e r p e n t i n e l i n e a n d i n t r i c a t e b ro id ery ,

(P la te IX ); w hile

g l a s s e d window e f f e c t , s i l h o u e t t e m odel,

em­

some o f h i s d e s i g n s h a d a s t a i n e d

a n d o t h e r s w e re c o n s t r u c t e d on t h e

(P late X )•

H is p o s t e r s w ith a l l t h e i r f i n e

d ra u g h ts m a n s h ip d e r i v e t h e i r charm n o t from any p a r t i c u l a r s e n s i t i v e n e s s o f l i n e n o r from any f o r c e f u l u n d e ry lin g i d e a s ; ' b u t f r o m b e i n g b u i l t up u n t i l

the

th in n e s s o f the o r ig in a l

c o n cep tio n h as been co v ered . The o r n a t e n e s s o f B r a d l e y ’ s b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e p o s t e r s , f o r w h ic h he was e s p e c i a l l y known, w as n o t a b l e . a lw a y s t h e e m p h a s i s was on i n t r i c a t e s i m p l i c i t y o f th e w ood -cut.

design,

V icto rian s ty le

k in d o f work,

th e y w ere i n k e e p in g w ith th e

of the p e rio d .

In th e r e a l i s t i c

and d e c o r a tiv e

p erio d o th e r o u tstan d in g a r t i s t s designs.

r a t h e r th a n the

H i s p o s t e r s f o r ’’The I n l a n d

P r i n t e r ” w e r e among t h e b e s t e x a m p l e s o f t h i s and o r n a t e a s th e y w ere,

Here a s

s t y l e o f the

early

p r o d u c e d some e x c e l l e n t

An e a r l y w o r k e r i n A m e r i c a n p o s t e r a r t ,

30 M axfield P a r r is h

co n trib u ted a d is tin c tiv e

sty le

t h a t became

w e l l known b e c a u s e o f t h e r i c h c o l o r i n g a n d s m o o t h g r a d a t i o n o f c o l o r w hich w ere t h e m ain f e a t u r e s o f h i s p a r t i c u l a r tech n iq u e.

In a l l o f h is desig n s g re a t d e c o ra tiv e p o s s i b i l i ­

t i e s w ere r e a l i z e d .

So t r a d i t i o n a l w a s h i s

treatm en t th a t

h i s n am e h a s b e e n a t t a c h e d t o a n y s t y l e a n d c o l o r i n g s i m i l a r to

th e d ream -lik e

q u a lity he a c h ie v e d .

One o f t h e m o s t e v i d e n t s o u r c e s o f p o s t e r d e s i g n h a s been th e

indep en d en t s i l h o u e t t e .

to r e a liz e i t s

A m erican a r t i s t s

v a l u e i n d e s i g n a n d i n many p o s t e r s

were q u ic k of th e

f i r s t d e c a d e t h e s i l h o u e t t e was d o m in a n t an d h e l p e d m a i n t a i n th e u n ity

of the d e c o ra tio n

used in c o n ju n c tio n w ith i t h era ld ic lu te

type o f d e s i g n .?

silh o u ette,

in p a tte r n .

The e n g r a v e d l i n e s

showed a t e n d e n c y to w a r d t h e The a d d i t i o n

of co lo r to th e abso­

and a g r a d u a l s u p e r-im p o s in g o r s e r i e s

silh o u e tte d shapes,

l i k e m any o f t h e J a p a n e s e p r i n t s ,

d u c e d a compound t y p e o f d e s i g n u s e d b y s u c h a r t i s t s

of

pro­ as

B rad ley and P e n f i e l d .^ The J a p a n e s e p r i n t

in flu e n c e has been seen in p o s te r

d e s i g n s i n c e T o u l o u s e - L a u t r e c ’ s work i n The p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s

the 1 880fs,

(P la te I ¥ ) .

o f d e s ig n s u se d by t h e J a p a n e s e

i n t h e i r w o o d -c u ts w ere a d a p te d and i m i t a t e d i n o c c i d e n t a l

p.

56.

? E . M cK night K a u f f e r , ^ I b i d . , p . 84.

ed ito r,

The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r ,

31 lith o g ra p h y .^

L a u t r e c ’ s sever© s i m p l i c i t y b ro u g h t th e p o s t e r

n e a r e r t o th e c h a r a c t e r of t h e J a p a n e s e p r i n t and t h i s

ten ­

d e n c y w a s f a r t h e r s t r e n g t h e n e d by t h e B e g g a r s t a f f B r o t h e r s in E n g lan d ,

( P l a t e V I ) , a n d l a t e r d e v e l o p e d i n G e r m a n y .'*’0

- A m eric an w o r k i n t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s h o w e d t h i s i n f l u e n c e i n m an y o f t h e l i t h o g r a p h e d p o s t e r s , a s w e l l a s i n some o f

th e p o s t e r s p r i n te d from w o o d -c u ts,

(P la te X V III).

H u m or w a s n o t u n know n i n t h e e a r l y p o s t e r s .

In fa c t,

so m e d e s i g n e r s g a i n e d m u c h p o p u l a r i t y b y t h e i r h u m o r o u s p o s ­ ters,

n o t a b l y F . G. G o o p e r a n d J . M o n t g o m e r y F l a g g .

many t y p e s o f humor p o r t r a y e d i n v a r i o u s w ere a b le

to sta n d a r t i s t i c

c ritic ism ,

o f d esig n and c ra ftsm an sh ip .

However,

c o r d e d many hum orous p o s t e r s o f t h e im p re ss iv e by t h e i r i n t r i n s i c in th e

sty le

w orth.

sty les,

Of t h e

few o f them

o r th e o rd in ary t e s t s t h e r e have been r e ­

e a r l y e ra t h a t have been Most o f t h e s e w e re done

t h a t resem bled th e r e a lis m o f o t h e r p o s t e r s .

L etterin g ,

a lw a y s an im p o r ta n t p a r t o f p o s t e r d e s i g n ,

was u s u a l l y n o t a s w e l l d e s i g n e d th e p i c t o r i a l w ork.

i n t h e e a r l y p o s t e r s a s was

The o l d e r p o s t e r w a s n o t u n a w a r e o f

m an y o f t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s

o f c e r t a i n m e t h o d s , 11 b u t u s e d t h e s e

9 " S i m p l i c i t y of c o m p o s itio n , r e s t r i c t e d use o f c o lo u r , t h e im p o r ta n c e o f a p re d o m in a n t p a t t e r n , and a c o n t r a s t by i s o l a t i o n . ” I b i d . , p . 62. 10 l>oc• c i t . 11 ” . . . h o r i z o n t a l an d v e r t i c a l movem ent, l a r g e and s m a ll t y p e , c l o s e and w ide s p a c i n g , p o s i t i v e a n d n e g a t i v e ,

32 o nly as d e c o ra tiv e e x tr a s . l e g i b i l i t y and e f f e c t .

As a r u l e t i i i s

Of c o u r s e ,

t h e r e w ere e x c e p tio n s such

a s t h e work o f P e n f i e l d a n d P a r r i s h . says H arrin g to n ,

"is

im p a ire d both

" P e n f ie ld ’s l e t t e r i n g , ”

n e a r l y alw ays fo rm a l in t h e b a s i s o f i t s

d e s ig n , and has alw ay s b een e x c e l l e n t l y l e g i b l e and p a r t i c u la rly

su itab le

letterin g ,

f o r use in p o s te r d e s i g n . T h e

h o w e v e r, was i n t h e w o o d - c u t p o s t e r s ,

tech n iq u e r e q u ire d p o s te r l e t t e r s found

b e tte r

i n t h e w o r k o f C . B. F a l l s

of strong

since

ch aracter,

a n d F . G. C o o p e r ,

th is as

(P la te

X V I I I ) . 13 The t y p e o f p o s t e r t h a t a d v e r t i s e s t h i n g s ren d erin g o f a c tu a l o b je c ts , was t h e n ,

a s now,

articles,

s e e n by t h e

b u ild in g s,

t h e m o s t c o m m o n ly d i s p l a y e d .

and p la c e s

However, t h e

p io n e e rs o f a d v e r t i s i n g w ere o fte n s a t i s f i e d w ith the c ru d e s t rep resen tatio n

o f co m m o dities t h e y w ish e d to p u b l i c i z e , and

used p r i n t e d b i l l s boxes of p i l l s , g lo ry .

t a k e n from weak d ra w in g s o f b e e r b o t t l e s

b u ild in g s

A rtistic ally

suspended in m id - a ir ,

t h e s e were g e n e r a l l y p o o r ,

o r the su n set b u t im prove­

m en t was n o t slo w a n d A m e ric a n d e s i g n e r s

showed t h e m s e l v e s t o

be s u c c e s s f u l

by good d r a w in g and

in c o rr e c tin g t h e i r f a u lts

H (continued) e tc ., e tc ." J a n T s c h i c h o l d , "New P a t h s i n P o s t e r W o r k , " C om m ercial A rt a n d I n d u s t r y , 1 0 :2 4 6 , J u n e , 1 9 3 1 . 12 H a r r i n g t o n , 13 I b i d . .

p.

57

op.

c i t . , p.

36.

in d iv id u a lity II.

i n t h e i r w o r k . lif

THE PRE-WAR, WORLD WAR I ,

AND POST-WAR YEARS1 5

I n 1 9 0 1 t h e r e h a d a p p e a r e d i n L o n d o n some o n e - s h e e t p o sters

d e s i g n e d hy t h e B e g g a r s t a f f B r o t h e r s i n two a n d t h r e e

c o lo rs o n ly .

These p o s t e r s ,

r e f le c tin g the c h a r a c te r is tic

fe a tu re s o f th e Japanese p r i n t,

w e re n o t o u t o f harm ony w i t h

t h e s p i r i t o f t h e new c e n t u r y i n and e lim in a tio n

th e ir sim p licity ,

of th e u n n ecessary.

economy,

A few y e a r s l a t e r i n

M u n i c h , L u d w i g H o l w e i n a n d some o t h e r y o u n g a r t i s t s ceeded in c re a tin g and p la c in g th e f i r s t d e s i g n i n few and f l a t

co lo rs,

p o sters

(P la te V II).

o f E u r o p e s o o n a d o p t e d t h i s new s t y l e

had s u c ­

of sim p le

The a d v e r t i s e r s

of p o ster a r t,

w hich

w a s l a t e r k n o w n i n A m e r i c a a s t h e G e rm a n p o s t e r s t y l e . 3-6 became so p r o m in e n t t h a t

any a r t

sty le

It

th a t resem bles i t has

been e rr o n e o u s ly term ed " p o s t e r s t y l e . " I n 1912 t h e German s t y l e was i n t r o d u c e d i n t o t h i s co u n try .

The i n t r o d u c t i o n ,

developm ent, and a d a p ta tio n f o r

A m e ric a n n e e d s an d c o n d i t i o n s were slow a n d d i f f i c u l t p r o c ­ e sse s.^

fers

Some o f t h e G e rm a n p o s t e r s ,

esp ecially

those of

^ S i d n e y R. J o n e s , P o s t e r s a n d T h e i r D e s i g n e r s , p . 8 . 15 T h e t e r m " p r e - w a r , W o r l d War I , a n d p o s t - w a r " r e ­ to t h e y e a r s o f a b o u t 1912 t o 1 9 2 5 *1 z .

J . A sanger, "C ontem porary A rt in O utdoor A d v e r t i s i n g , ( u n p u b lis h e d s h o r t t r e a t i s e , F e b r u a r y , 1 9 2 9 ), P- 2.

34 H olw ein a n d K a r l K u n s t, w ere t r u e a r t a s w e l l a s p o s t e r s , b u t m o st o f t h e o t h e r s w e re n e i t h e r .47 a c c e p t e d w h at t h e y fo u n d good i n t h i s t h e i r own p o s t e r s ,

but a rt

stu d en ts

M a ste r draughtsm en s t y l e and im proved

copied and m ag n ifie d th e

d e f e c t s o f t h e German p o s t e r s a n d m i s s e d t h e i r m e r i t s . f l a t m asses o f c o lo r and heavy l e t t e r i n g a p p r o v a l by t h e A m e ric an p u b l i c ence o f t h i s

im m ed iately ,

but the

in flu ­

and h a s been e v i d e n t e v e r s i n c e .

T h e a d a p t e d G erm an s t y l e , w i t h i t s c o lo r and i t s

lack of d e ta il,

e m p h a sis on p a r t s w hereas in th e

areas of f l a t

was a d e f i n i t e a d v an c em en t o v e r

t h e more d e t a i l e d a n d d e l i c a t e

tu res

d i d n o t win' much

s t y l e was e s p e c i a l l y n o t i c e a b l e i n th e p o s t e r s

o f the n e x t d ecade,

in clu d ed ,

The

re a lis m t h a t preceded

it.

o r o b j e c t s was a n o t h e r i n n o v a t i o n ,

for

o ld er p o sters

t h e new p o s t e r s

en tire

f i g u r e s o f p eo p le w ere

em phasized o n ly t h e p a r t s

t h a t w e re deemed n e c e s s a r y t o

The

th e d esig n ,

or fe a ­

(P la te X X II).

A f t e r a f e w y e a r s m an y w e l l - k n o w n d e s i g n e r s h a d new i n d i v i d u a l s t y l e s , w h i c h s h o w e d Germ an i n f l u e n c e s . w ork was im p ro v e d , m anufacturer,

lik e

In g e n e ra l, t h e i r

the P e n fie ld p o s te r fo r a c lo th in g

( P l a t e XX)•

A n o t h e r i n f l u e n c e on p o s t e r a r t

sty le

th a t proved o f

v a s t i m p o r t a n c e w a s t h e a d o p t i o n o f t h e tT2 4 - s h e e t T? p o s t e r a s t h e standard p o s te r - s iz e

^

H a r r in g to n ,

f o r outdoor a d v e r tis in g .

o jd

.

c i t . , p . 103*

The y e a r 1 9 1 2

35 m arks t h e a d v e n t o f a s t a n d a r d s i z e o f A m erican b i l l b o a r d , when t h e P o s t e r A d v e r t i s i n g A s s o c i a t i o n a d o p t e d t h e 2 4 - s h e e t 18 siz e f o r general use. The e l o n g a t e d s h a p e o f t h e b o a r d s placed d i s t i n c t lim ita tio n s p o sters,

but th e

on t h e d e s i g n e r o f l a r g e

i n g e n u i t y o f A m erican a r t i s t s

m ost o f th e d i f f i c u l t i e s .

l o n g low o b j e c t s

h a s overcom e

The u n f o r t u n a t e s h a p e ,

to a w e ll-b a la n c e d co m p o sitio n ,

outdoor

ill-su ite d

e x c e p t f o r d i s p l a y o f a few

such a s a u to m o b i le s , was d e s ig n e d t o p r o v id e

s u f f ic ie n t o p p o rtu n ity f o r t r a f f i c

to a b so rb th e m essage

th e re o n r a t h e r th a n to meet th e convenience of th e a r t i s t s . How ever, a r t i s t s

have reco g n ized t h i s

c o m p o s itio n s have been p lan n ed t h a t

19

"speed-m edium " and

e lim in a te d e t a i l s and

unnecessary item s. Though t h e p o p u l a r i t y o f t h e p o s t e r d e c l i n e d f o r a w h i l e , w i t h t h e a d v e n t o f t h e G -re at War I i t s

unique v a lu e as

a medium f o r a g i t a t i o n a n d p r o p a g a n d a was r e a l i z e d a n d em p lo y ed OA

as never b efo re. ^ th is

The t e n s e c o n d i t i o n s

tim e w ere r e f l e c t e d

in th e d e sig n s,

th at p rev ailed a t e s p e c i a l l y i n James

D a u g h e r ty * s "The S h i p s A re C o m in g ," em bodying a m a g n i f i c e n t r e n d e r i n g of t h e A m erican E a g le , and i n J o s e p h P e n n e l l ’s

IS p.

O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g — The M o d e r n M a r k e t i n g F o r c e ,

9. 19

A lon B em ent, "W h a t’ s H a p p e n in g t o A m e ric an P o s t e r D e s i g n , " The P o s t e r , 2 0 : 2 5 , M a r c h , 1 9 2 9 . 20 C h r is tia n B rin to n , "P o ster: P ro sp ect and R etro ­ s p e c t , " M a g a z i n e o f A r t , 3 0 : 2 8 9 , May, 1 9 3 7 .

36 w e ll-k n o w n p o s t e r b a se d on t h e S t a t u e o f L i b e r t y . o t h e r s by many o f A m e r i c a ’ s g r e a t e s t a r t i s t s re a listic

These and

possessed a

a p p e a l t h a t made them v e r y e f f e c t i v e .

The d e s i g n e r s

o f t h e w ar p o s t e r s aim ed f o r c l e a r - c u t

o u t l i n e s and c o lo r s w ith o u t b o t h e r i n g to be to o t r u t h f u l a s t o m i n u t e d e t a i l s . 21

T h e ir d e s ig n s an d p i c t u r e s w ere o f

c o n s i d e r a b l e m e r i t , a n d w e r e r e n d e r e d i n many d i f f e r e n t s t y l e s and m edium s,

sin ce the v a s t a rra y of a r t i s t s

had p r e v i o u s l y d i s r e g a r d e d p o s t e r w ork.

i n c l u d e d m an y who

M ost of th e p o s t e r s

w ere e x e c u te d in t h e m anner to w hich t h e a r t i s t s w ere a c c u s ­ tomed a s t h e

se rio u sn e ss of th e s itu a tio n

vogues o r te c h n iq u e s, Th e g r e a t scrib ed

d i d n o t p e r m i t new

( P l a t e X V I).

in f lu e n c e o f t h e war p o s t e r s h as been d e­

by L i p p i n c o t t ,

who h a s r e m a r k e d :

The u s e o f p o s t e r s d u r i n g t h e w a r h a s p r o v e d t o be th e g r e a t e s t s in g le in f lu e n c e f o r th e perm anent b e t t e r ­ m ent o f t h i s m edium, a n d o f i t s e n d o rs e m e n t by p u b l i c o p in io n . The q u a l i t y o f o u t d o o r a d v e r t i s i n g u s e d i n t h e v a r i o u s d r i v e s and cam paigns was so f a r ah ead o f t h a t w ith w hich e i t h e r a d v e r t i s e r s o r consum ers had p r e v io u s ly b e e n f a m i l i a r t h a t a r e t u r n t o t h e f o i m e r m e th o d s by p r i v a t e a d v e r t i s i n g w a s o u t o f t h e q u e s t i o n . 22 Much o f t h i s w a s d u e , n o d o u b t , a rtists

for

th is

to th e

type o f war p u b l i c i t y ,

en listm en t o f th e b e st a n d a f t e r t h e war

m a n y o f t h e m , who p r o b a b l y w o u l d n e v e r h a v e b e e n c a l l e d u p o n

21 W i l m o t L i p p i n c o t t , 22 I b i d . ,

p. 221.

O utdoor A d v e r t i s i n g , p .

209.

37 f o r t h i s t y p e o f work had i t n o t been f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h e d d u r i n g th e w ar,

trad itio n s

c o n t i n u e d t o do c o m m e r c i a l p o s t e r

w ork. The p o s t - w a r p e r i o d w i t n e s s e d some f i n e a n d a r t i s t i c p o sters

by m a n y o f t h e s e s a m e a r t i s t s .

p o sters

of th e

1 9 2 1 a n d 1 9 2 2 c a m p a i g n s m a d e u s e o f some o f

t h e m ost b e a u t i f u l p a i n t i n g s purposes.

T he P a l m o l i v e S o a p

e v e r em ployed f o r a d v e r t i s i n g

T h e s e w e re p a i n t e d by C l a r e n c e Underwood i n s u c h

a re a listic

m anner t h a t th e

c h arac te rs d e p ic te d

b e a u t i f u l women) s e e m e d t o b e a l m o s t l i v i n g L ey e n .d ec k er, a n o th e r a r t i s t p o sters

sor e a l i s t i c

rem ark,

"the

of a p o ster,

fig u res.

pro m in en t a t t h i s

tim e,

produced

t h a t t h e y e v o k e d fro m one c r i t i c

ch aracters

tim e t h e r e a p p e a re d

(u su ally

fairly

b r e a t h e . "^4

About t h e

th e sa m e

in an E n g lis h p u b l ic a t i o n a re p r o d u c tio n

d e s ig n e d by a n A m erican a r t i s t

by a n A m e r i c a n l i t h o g r a p h e r ,

and l i t h o g r a p h e d

t h a t c a u s e d m u ch c o m m e n t .

p o r t r a i t h a s b e e n c a l l e d b y so m e c r i t i c s

th e

T his

" g r e a t e s t A m erican

p o s t e r ." 2 5 R e a l i s m w a s s o much a p a r t o f p o s t e r a r t 23

Ib id .,

b e f o r e 1925

p . 249.

24

"A m a s t e r p i e c e o f L e y e n d e c k e r ’ s w o r k w h i c h won f i r s t p r i z e in th e p o s t e r s e c tio n a t a r e c e n t A rt D i r e c t o r s ’ E x h ib i­ t i o n i n New Y o r k C i t y . . • t h e c h a r a c t e r s f a i r l y b r e a t h e . " H o r a t i o B . M o o r e , I l l u s t r a t i o n i n A d v e r t i s i n g (The U n i v e r s i t y o f M i s s o u r i B u l l e t i n , V o l . 2 5 , No* 2 7 , J o u r n a l i s m S e r i e s N o . 3 1 , S e p t e m b e r 2 0 , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 33* 25

L ip p in c o t t , o p . c i t . ,

p. 2 2 1 .

38 t h a t m ost a l l p u b l i c a t i o n s ,

both h e re and abro ad , c o n sta n tly -

r e f e r r e d t o A m e r i c a a s t h e home o f t h e r e a l i s t i c in d iv id u al

The

s t y l e s w ere in n u m e r a b le , b u t m ost of th em w ere

d e fin ite ly re a lis tic , of th e

p o ster.

alth o u g h not e x a c tly lik e

e a rly y ears of th e c e n tu ry .

i n p o s t e r s was i n t u n e w i t h t h e p o i n t was p r e s e n t a l s o i n

th e rea lism

How ever, t h e a r t d i s p l a y e d

tim es,

as th e r e a l is ti c

in d u s tr ia l d esig n ,

the

view ­

em phasis

b ein g p la c e d

on m e c h a n i c a l

im provem ent r a t h e r t h a n on e x t e r i o r

appearance.

N ev erth eless,

as th e m echanical a s p e c ts w ere

im p ro v e d , more a t t e n t i o n was d e v o t e d t o a p p e a r a n c e , t i m e w e n t on t h e r e w e re i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t

and a s

th e atm o sp h ere and

ac tiv ity

o f t h e M a c h i n e Age w e r e b r i n g i n g a b o u t a c h a n g e i n

design.

T h i s c h a n g e may t r u t h f u l l y

be d e s c r i b e d a s a sw in g

tow ards an a e s t h e t i c ap p ro ach . R ep resen tativ e

of th e change in a t t i t u d e

o f Henry F o r d ’s c r i t i c i s m fo llo w in g statem en t:

of a rt

is

th e

sto ry

a s r e c o r d e d by Cheney i n t h e

26

H e n r y F o r d ’ s now f a m o u s e a r l y a p h o r i s m t h a t h e w o u l d n o t g i v e a n i c k l e f o r a l l th e a r t in t h e w o r l d was c o i n e d o u t o f t h e c u r r e n c y o f i n d u s t r y ’ s r e a l i s t i c e r a , when a r t everyw here f a i l e d to i n t e r p r e t l i f e s i g n i f i c a n t l y , and when b u y e r s o f t h e l i t t l e , c h e a p , e a r l y a u t o m o b i l e h a d s t i l l n o t a r r i v e d a t a n a p p r e c i a t i o n o f t h e m achine a s b eauty. H i s l a t e r a p h o r i s m c o n c e r n i n g a r t w a s t o come o u t o f t h e new e r a . • • • T h u s H e n r y F o r d a r r i v e d a t t h e end o f t h e o ld e r a and t h e b e g i n n i n g o f a new, and r e ­ v e r s e d h i s judgm ent a s e x p r e s s e d i n t h e e a r l i e r a p h o ris m , s u b s t i t u t i n g f o r i t t h i s s a y i n g : " D e s i g n w i l l t a k e more

26

S h eld o n Cheney a n d M artha C a n d le r Cheney, A rt and t h e M a c h i n e (New Y o r k : ¥ / h i t t l e s e y H o u s e , M c G r a w - H i l l B oo k C o m p an y , 1 9 3 6 ) , p p . 2 6 , 2 8 .

39 a d v a n t a g e o f t h e po w er o f t h e m a c h in e t o go b e y o n d w hat t h e h a n d c an d o , a n d w i l l g i v e us a w h o le new a r t * "

III. The a r t

THE MODE HIT PERIOD27

of th e p o s te r rev e ale d a d e f i n i t e ,

co n scio asly

e v o lv ed s t y l e a s p e c t f o llo w in g t h e P a r i s E x p o s itio n d e s A rts D e c o r a t i f s o f 1925*

A new c y c l e o f c r e a t i v e d e s i g n a p p e a r e d

w i t h i n d i c a t i o n s o f a new c o o r d i n a t i o n b e t w e e n a r t a n d i n d u s ­ try .

T h is c y c l e was i n a l a r g e

part

co n d itio n ed .

c r e a t e d by t h e m ach in e and m ass p r o d u c t i o n .

I t was

At f i r s t

th is

new , m odern a r t was v e r y F r e n c h a n d ,

in fa c t,

was a lm o s t a

window d r e s s e r ’ s a r t w i t h a f e m i n i n e

effect.

How ever, t h e

new s t y l e b ecam e i n t e r n a t i o n a l , Q uite n a t u r a l l y th e p o s t e r , creatio n s,

in flu en cin g a l l d e sig n .

r e s p o n s iv e t o c h an g in g f a s h i o n and

was i n f l u e n c e d and even p l a y e d a n a c t i v e

part

in

p o p u l a r i z i n g t h e new d e s i g n t e n d e n c i e s .^ 8 E u ro p e a n p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s were t h e n ew s t y l e , R u ssia,

and th e

forem ost s t y l i s t s

and th e o th e r c o u n trie s

f o r t h e new a r t t r e a t m e n t European p o s t e r a r t

first

i n Germ any, F r a n c e ,

c o n trib u te d th e

in sp iratio n

i n A m erican a d v e r t i s i n g .

In f a c t,

became a l m o s t e x c l u s i v e l y m o d e r n i s t . ^

27

The t e r m m o d e r n p e r i o d a s u s e d h e r e t o W o r l d War I I , ( D e c e m b e r , 1 9 4 1 ) * B rin to n ,

to adopt th e

op), c i t . » p .

d a te s from 1925

290.

29 a u t h o r ’s s t u d y o f m odern a d v e r t i s i n g a r t i n Germany, A u s t r i a , C z e c h o - S l o v a k i a a n d F r a n c e show ed t h a t an a d v e r t i s e m e n t i s seldom d e s ig n e d i n a n y t h i n g b u t t h e m odern m a n n e r . ” F r a n k H. Young, Modern A d v e r t i s i n g A r t , p p . 1 3 - 1 6 .

40 The k e y n o t e o f m o d e r n is m i s Some o f i t s are

s i m p l i c i t y of l i n e and form .

o utstanding c h a r a c te r is tic s

in a d v e rtis in g a rt

e x tre m e ly sim ple g e o m e tric a rra n g e m e n ts , b i z a r r e

schem es,

c o lo r

d e c o r a tiv e d e sig n s and b o rd ers c re a te d w ith d i s r e ­

gard o f th e t r a d i t i o n a l m o tifs ,

a n d m uch u s e o f s a n s s e r i f

letterin g One o f t h e p o s t e r a r t i s t s

o f m odern F r e n c h " s c h o o l , "

who h a s u n d o u b t e d l y h a d t h e g r e a t e s t

i n f l u e n c e on t h e c o m p le te

t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w hich h a s ta k e n p l a c e

in p o ste r a r t

p e r h a p s e v en i n t h e w hole w o r l d , th e f i r s t

to e lim in a te

i s C assandre.

in the

He w a s o n e o f

co m p letely from th e p o s te r a l l

p l i c a t e d elem en ts and u n n e ce ssa ry d e t a i l . u n d e r l y i n g t h i s new a r t

in Europe,

are

com­

Some o f t h e t h e o r i e s

e x p re s s e d by C a s s a n d re , h i m s e l f ,

fo llo w in g q u o tatio n :

A l l p o s t e r p a i n t e r s to t h i s day h a d c o n s i d e r e d i t an i m p e r a t i v e n e c e s s i t y t h a t a hu m an b e i n g , a p p e a r i n g o n p o s t e r s , s h o u l d by movem ent o f c o n t e n t m e n t e x p r e s s t h e i r s a t i s f a c t i o n o f t h e use o f th e p ro d u c t th e y w anted to a d v ertise. To o b t a i n a " l i v i n g " p o s t e r w i t h o u t a l i v i n g p e r s o n a g e a p p e a r i n g on i t was a t h i n g t o t h a t d a y u n ­ dream ed o f . I t i s my c o n t e n t i o n , h o w e v e r , t h a t i n t h e v e r y l i n e o f th e m ost i n s i g n i f i c a n t o b j e c t t h e r e i s , as i t w e re , enough p e r s o n a l i t y and a t l e a s t s u f f i c i e n t s i g n i f i c a n c e to en ab le th e a r t i s t to g iv e e x p re ssio n to any o b je c t, b y c a u s i n g to s t a n d o u t i t s m a i n l i n e a l elements.31

30 I b i d . ,

p. 2 8 .

^ R o g e r L . Dupuy, M a r c h , 1929.

" C a s s a n d r e , ” The P o s t e r ,

20:14,

41 These id e a s , p o raries, art

th at

p u t i n t o p r a c t i c e by C a s s a n d re a n d h i s contem ­

brought about

such a w id e sp re a d change in p o s t e r

t h e new d e s i g n b e c a m e a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l

sty le.

The d e v e lo p m e n t o f p o s t e r a r t i n A m erica h a s been 32 mueh s l o w e r t h a n i n E u r o p e . But w i t h t h e s t r o n g i n f l u e n c e o f t h e m odern t r e n d upon a l l th is

co u n try ,

th e o th e r form s o f d e s ig n i n

as a rc h ite c tu re ,

d e c o ra tio n and fa s h io n ,

i n A m erican p o s t e r a r t was soon a f f e c t e d . i n g was s lo w t o d e p a r t fro m i t s

realism ,

sty le

A m erican a d v e r t i s ­ and a lth o u g h th e

m odern s t y l e w as t o o s t r o n g t o be i g n o r e d t h e A m erican p o s t e r n e v e r e x p e rie n c e d a s com plete a change as th e E uropean a r t . A m erica,

it

m ust be rem em bered,

h a d b e e n f o r some t i m e t h e

home o f a r i c h a n d m a g n i f i c e n t s t y l e p le a s in g to th e p u b lic , rad ical

th an

o f r e a l i s m t h a t was

and any change fro m i t h ad t o be l e s s

th a t abroad.

The m o s t i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t s

of th e

new s t y l e w e r e a d o p t e d i n d e s i g n s w h i c h w e r e s i m p l e a n d d e c o ­ rativ e

i n c o m p o s itio n a n d d i d n o t r e l y on t h e

c ia te d

in te re st.

th at

G r a d u a l l y i t was r e a l i z e d

sto ry or asso­

th at

i f a d esign

t o o k some e l e m e n t s o f m o d e r n a r t a s a w o r k i n g b a s i s

32

^ ”I n E u ro p e, p e o p le have th e a r t background a n d c e n ­ tu rie s of a r t tra d itio n s . These o ld e r c o u n tr ie s have had th e l e i s u r e to develop P o s te r A rt to a h ig h p o in t. In th e U nited S t a t e s , u n t i l a c o m p a r a t i v e l y f e w y e a r s a g o , we h a v e b e e n t o o b u s y w i t h o u r own w o r k o f p i o n e e r i n g a n d e s t a b l i s h i n g a n e w i n d u s t r i a l d e m o c r a c y t o p a y much a t t e n t i o n t o t h e a r t i s t i c s i d e o f t h i s com m ercial a c t i v i t y . ” O u td o o r A d v e r t i s i n g — The M odern M a r k e t i n g F o r c e , p . 1 9 6 .

42 accom plished i t s

purpose of s e l l i n g

goods i t

d i d w h a t was

e x p e c t e d o f i t . 33 The A m e ric a n p u b l i c m ovem ent. tisin g a

s o o n b e g an t o a c c e p t t h e new

E v e n d e f e a t i s t s , who c a l l e d m o d e r n a r t tem porary fa d and a t

best a n o v e lty ,

rea liz ed

t h e m ovem ent w as u n d e r way a n d m a k in g p r o g r e s s . tie s

fo r the p o s te r a r t i s t

became a lm o s t

in ad v er­ th at

The p o s s i b i l i ­

u n lim ited .

He c o u l d

s o l v e h i s p ro b le m s i n a n a b s t r a c t o r p u r e l y i n t e l l e c t u a l way; he c o u ld a p p e a l

t o h u m o r a n d t h e h e a r t - s t r i n g s w i t h o u t em­

p lo y in g th e o ld and w e ll-w o rn m e t h o d s . ^ im p o rtan t fe a tu re

D esig n became t h e

of th e m o d e rn ist’s p o s te r,

s o m uch s o t h a t

i n so m e a d v e r t i s e m e n t s t h e r e w a s a l a c k o f i n t e r e s t i n t h e product a d v e rtise d purpose.

and th e s e p o s te r s

T here w ere,

how ever,

p o sters w ith a d e fin ite ab strac tio n s

created

d id not acco m p lish

some s t r i k i n g

fo re ig n n ote,

by C a s s a n d r e

S i n c e 1 9 2 5 many s o - c a l l e d have b een f o i s t e d upon t h e

sty les,

the e f f e c tiv e

te c h n iq u e s and f a d s

t h e name o f p o s t e r a r t ,

The m o v e m e n t s

h a v e i n f l u e n c e d p o s t e r t o some e x t e n t , V o rticism ,

u ltra-m o d ern

f o r t h e F o r d M o to r Company.

p u b lic in

b u t few o f th em have e n d u r e d .

such as

th eir

in th e o th e r a r t s

n o ta b ly abroad;

D adaism ,

S y n c h ro n is m , C ubism , F u t u r i s m , a n d o t h e r s h av e

33 F . A. M e r c e r a n d W. G a u n t , P u b lic ity 1928.

34* A sa n g er, o p . c i t . , p . 5*

e d ito rs,

P o sters

and

43 a p p e a r e d a n d i n f l u e n c e d a d v e r t i s i n g a r t . 33

in recent

years

E uropean p o s te r a r t h a s e x p e rie n c e d a tr e n d

from a b s t r a c t to

s u r r e a l i s t d e s i g n , some o f t h i s i n f l u e n c e s p r e a d i n g t o o£ A m erican w ork. H ow ever, t h e A m erican p u b l i c h a s n o t a c ­ cep ted su rre a lism and i t s

F reudian id ea s

e sp e c ia lly fo r a d v e rtis in g purposes.

very r e a d i l y ,

N ev erth eless,

c ertain

p o s te r d esig n s have n e c e s s ita te d a d e f i n i t e tre a tm e n t, as

ro m an tic,

im p ressio n istic,

because of t h e i r

su b ject,

re a listic

purpose,

such

o r even s u r r e a l i s t i c ,

or o th er fa c to rs

in v o lv ed .

The c h i e f d i f f e r e n c e b e tw e e n A m e ric a n a n d E u r o p e a n p o sters

today i s

In se a rc h f o r the to

in t h e m ethod o f p r e s e n t i n g t h e m e s s a g e . ^ s t o r y - t e l l i n g p o s t e r A m erican a r t i s t s

a g r e a t e x te n t abandoned the

o f t h e E uropean p o s t e r .

have

f l a t c o n v e n tio n a liz e d tech n iq u e

Three d im en sio n al m odeling i s

im p o rtan t in pro d u cin g th e r e a lis m our p u b lic

d esires,

im but at

33

"O ut o f a l l o f t h e s e p h a s e s o f t h e m odern movement h a s come E x p r e s s i o n i s m w h i c h ’h a s t o d o w i t h t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f th e in n e r t r u t h r a t h e r th a n t h e s u r f a c e a s p e c t s of t h e o b j e c t s e e n by t h e a r t i s t . ’” Young, o p . c i t • , p . 2 0 . ”A t r e n d from a b s t r a c t ( p u r e l y f o r m a l a r r a n g e m e n t s o f shape) to s u r r e a l i s t d e sig n (the f r e e ju x ta p o s itio n of o b j e c t s u n r e l a t e d i n s c a l e o r c h a r a c t e r ) . ” Tom P u r v i s , P o s te r P ro g re s s , p. 27. ”In f o r e ig n c o u n tr ie s th e m essage i s f r e q u e n t l y c o n f in e d t o p r o d u c t names a n d q u a l i t i e s . . . a n d i s o f t e n c o n t e n t t o g e t a t t e n t i o n by sym bols o r c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d f o r m s . ” ” I n o u r h i g h l y s p e c i a l i z e d m a r k e t we t e n d t o w a r d g i v i n g a c o m p le te w ord p i c t u r e o f th e b e n e f i t o f t h e use o f our p a r tic u la r p ro d u ct, and get in te r e s t w ith a s t o r y - t e l li n g p i c t u r e a s o p p o se d t o t h e s y m b o l .” Rene C l a r k , "A m erican P o s t e r A r t , ” 1 7 th A rt D ir e c to r s Annual o f A d v e r tis in g A rt, P« 1 1 3 *

44 g r e a t e r d i s t a n c e s from w h ic h t h e A m erican o u t d o o r p o s t e r i s view ed th e e f f e c t o f a com plete s i l h o u e t t e a c h i e v e d . 38 p o sters

A sim ila r type of realism

f e a t u r in g photography,

o ften

is a lso

is

still

seen in th e

e s p e c ia lly sin c e the

im prove­

m e n t s i n c o l o r p h o t o g r a p h y h a v e made t h i s m edium more a t t r a c ­ tiv e

and p r a c t i c a l . Humor,

still

used e x te n s i v e l y

p o r tr a y e d in a lm o st any s t y l e , in th e

Z X III).2 9

s e m i r e a l i s t i c , and c arto o n

o tis

is

s u c h a s was r e c e n t l y

a d v e r t i s e m e n t s f o r some o f t h e l e a d i n g o i l

in r e a l i s t i c ,

tie s

in p o ste r a r t ,

sty les,

em ployed

co m p an ies, (P late

S h e p a rd h a s com bined humor a n d f o r m a l

o f m odern d e s ig n i n t o w e l l - b a l a n c e d p o s t e r s ,

q u a li­

a s shown

i n h i s p o p u l a r W r i g l e y Gum a d v e r t i s e m e n t s . The c h a n g e s i n s t y l e ev id en t

o f A m erican p o s t e r a r t

a re m ost

in a r e c e n t u n d e rta k in g by p o s t e r d e s ig n e r s .

m o b i l i z a t i o n o f A m erican a r t i s t s

f o r defense p o s te rs

em ergency p r i o r to A m erica’ s e n tr a n c e

in to

The in t h e

t h e S e c o n d W orld

W ar s t a r t e d w i t h c o m p e t i t i o n s f o r t h e T r e a s u r y D e p a r t m e n t a n d t h e Army A i r C o r p s , a n d w a s s u p p l e m e n t e d b y f r e e , o tic

p a tri­

c o n tr i b u ti o n s of p o s t e r d e s ig n s by n o te d a r t i s t s , (P la te s

XXIX a n d XXX)•

The o u t s t a n d i n g f e a t u r e s

o f t h e s e new p o s t e r s

38 ffpkis d e v e lo p m e n t i s f i n e l y i l l u s t r a t e d in t h e w ork o f H o w a r d S c o t t , who h a s g r a d u a l l y d i s c a r d e d h i s H o l w e i n te c h n iq u e f o r t h e f u l l y m odeled p r e s e n t - d a y r e n d e r i n g . ” C larke, l o c . c i t .

39 A d v e r t i s i n g a n d S e l l i n g , 3 4 : 4 8 ,

55, F ebruary 13,

45 a r e dynam ic d e s i g n ,

strik in g

Though n o t h i n g new,

th ese

th e " G ib s o n is h " ^

c o lo r,

s ty le s a re a ra d ic a l d ep artu re

type o f p o s te r fe a tu re d

g a n d a some t w e n t y - f i v e y e a r s a g o . ^ to l e t

one f r e e

a n d in g e n io u s sym bolism .

brush stro k e

from

fo r o f f i c i a l propa­

The t e n d e n c y o f t o d a y i s

t a k e t h e p l a c e o f much d e t a i l

and to s t r e s s t h e p o in t th ro u g h s i m p l i c i t y o f d e sig n no m a t t e r what th e

sty le.

The T erm " G i b s o n i s h ” r e f e r s t o t h e r e a l i s t i c a n d d e t a i l e d type o f p o s t e r c r e a t e d by t h e w ell-know n a r t i s t , C h a r l e s Dana G i b s o n , l e a d e r o f an a s s o c i a t i o n o f a r t i s t s , d e d ic a t e d t o p i c t o r i a l p u b l i c i t y f o r t h e U n ite d S t a t e s G overn­ m e n t d u r i n g W o rld War I . 41 "A m e r i c a n A r t i s t s A d v e r t i s e t h e Aimy a n d D e f e n s e • • • A r t H ew s, 4 0 : 1 2 , A u g u s t, 1941*

CHAPTER IV

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUE AND COLOR IN AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0 I.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUE.

One o f t h e m o s t m i s i n t e r p r e t e d a n d m i s u s e d t e r m s a sso c ia te d w ith p o ste r a r t i s

th e term " t e c h n i q u e , w w h ich so

o fte n has been confused w ith o th e r term s, W hereas s t y l e h a s been c o n s i d e r e d t o e x p r e s s i o n , 1 be i t nique r e l a t e s Thus t h e

a b strac t,

only to

e sp ecially sty le .

b e t h e mode o r m a n n e r o f

re a listic ,

o r g eo m etric,

t h e m eth o d by w h ic h a s t y l e

o ft-q u o te d term " p o s te r te c h n iq u e ,"

tech ­

is

ex ecu ted

used to

describ e

t h e German p o s t e r s t y l e a n d t h e m e th o d o f a p p l y i n g f l a t 2 c o lo rs m m asses, i s e r r o n e o u s s i n c e i t r e p r e s e n t s o n ly one o f th e

te c h n iq u e s used in p o s te r d esigning# T his a s p e c t o f p o s t e r a r t ,

m e t h o d s u s e d by t h e a r t i s t s ,

because of th e v a r i e ty of

h as alw ay s been im p o r ta n t.

It

has been s ta te d : U nusual te c h n iq u e h as a g r e a t e r v alu e in th e p o s te r t h a n i n a n y o t h e r fo rm o f a d v e r t i s i n g , and a s t y l e q u i t e u n su itab le as p ic tu re o r illu s tr a tio n is a s e llin g fa c to r i n a s m uch a s i t a t t r a c t s a t t e n t i o n . 3

a n t e , P*

1 2

3

C f.

a n te , pp.

F . A. M e r c e r a n d W. G a u n t ,

1 9 3 5 -1 9 3 6 , p . 30. ■-

,

>

e d i t o r s , M odern P u b l i c i t y

47 New i d e a s o r n o v e l t r e a t m e n t s at a ll

u su a lly a re a rr e s tin g and i f

s u c c e s s f u l t h e y s e rv e a s m odels f o r o t h e r d e s ig n s *

How ever, f r e s h

id e a s have a tendency to

a c u l - d e - sac *

They become w i d e l y a d o p t e d ,

w orked,

and th e n

it

run e v e n tu a lly in to th ey a re o v e r­

i s t i m e f o r s o m e th in g new a g a i n . ^

T e c h n i q u e , w h i l e v e r y m uch r e l a t e d t o a lso to

a great

th eless,

s ty le , depends 5 e x t e n t upon c o lo r an d co m p o sitio n * N ever­

new s t y l e s h a v e f o s t e r e d n e w w a y s o f p r e s e n t i n g

th e s e s t y l e s and so th e d is c u s s io n d iv id ed in to

tw o m a i n p e r i o d s ,

m o d ern a r t movement w i t h i t s

o f t e c h n i q u e may w e l l b e

nam ely,

the p e rio d b e fo re th e

rev o lu tio n ary

id eas,

and t h e e ra

since* I I . THE F I R S T QUARTER OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY The t e c h n i q u e s e m p l o y e d i n p o s t e r w o r k a t t h e t u r n o f th e c e n tu r y w ere th e u s u a l tr e a tm e n ts th e g rap h ic a r t s o r brush and in k ,

and a d v e r t i s i n g . p a in tin g ,

The w o o d - c u t ,

p astels,

m edium s w e r e commonly u s e d i n t h e

used in o th e r form s o f pen an d in k

crayons and o th e r a r t

custom ary m anner a lth o u g h

4 I b i d . . 1933- 1 9 3 ^ . p . 75nS o m e t i m e s t h e p o s t e r i s s i m p l y a d e s i g n e d a r r a n g e ­ m ent o f l e t t e r i n g o r o th e r n o n - p i c t o r i a l f e a t u r e s . At o t h e r tim es i t i s a s t r i k i n g i l l u s t r a t i o n in f u l l c o lo u r • • • p o s t e r t e c h n i q u e , w h i t h e r a b s t r a c t o r p i c t o r i a l , d e p e n d s more upon c o l o u r a n d c o m p o s i t i o n t h a n upon f i n e d r a u g h t s m a n s h i p • n R o b e r t E . H y m e r s a n d L e o n a r d S h a r p , T h e T e c h n i q u e ^and P r a c t i c e of A d v e rtisin g A r t, p. 136.

48 changes d eveloped l a t e r . f o r c o l o r e d w ork,

The w o o d - c u t was u s e d e x t e n s i v e l y

t h e s im p le a n d o f t e n somewhat p r i m i t i v e

i l l u s t r a t i o n s possessin g a c e rta in c h a ra c te r th a t has o fte n been co p ied

sin ce.

E a c h b l o c k was h a n d o u t and t h e m a t e r i a l s

used p laced c e r t a i n lim i ta t io n s

on t h e d e s i g n . 0

L i t h o g r a p h y made p o s s i b l e many t e c h n i q u e s o f p o s t e r a r t t h a t p r e v i o u s l y w ere im p o s s ib le t o re p r o d u c e an d t h u s w ere n o t s u i t a b l e f o r p o s t e r d e s ig n .

By 1 9 0 0 a l l

of th e

p a i n t i n g a n d d r a w in g m edium s w e r e r e p r o d u c e d by t h e l i t h o g ­ rapher,

and w h ile i n d i v i d u a l

a rtists

d iffered

In f a c t

t h e r e has been l i t t l e

som ew hat,

te c h n iq u e s and tre a tm e n ts

th e

and draw ing te c h n iq u e s in t h i s is

of th e

g e n e ra l s t y l e s w ere s i m i l a r . o r no change i n t h e

p a in tin g

cen tu ry ; p a in tin g f o r p o ste rs

e s s e n t i a l l y t h e s a m e now a s . i n 1 9 0 0 w i t h O i l s ,

c o l o r s a n d o t h e r m edium s b e i n g a p p l i e d i n t h e

w ater

u s u a l way,

s im ila r to e a s e l-p a in tin g . The o u t s t a n d i n g c h a n g e i n p o s t e r t e c h n i q u e first

two d e c a d e s o f t h i s

c e n t u r y came w i t h t h e n e w G e r m a n

p o s te r s ty le and tech n iq u e t h a t appeared 1912.

So w i d e s p r e a d w a s t h e e f f e c t

has been s ta te d ,

in th e

in A m erica a b o u t

o f t h i s new s t y l e

th at

" T h e r e a s o n why s o m a n y p e o p l e h a v e t h e

t h a t a p o s t e r means s o m e th in g p a i n t e d

in f l a t m asses

idea

is a

h o l d - o v e r f r o m t h e German a r t p r o p a g a n d a w h i c h f l o o d e d t h i s £

it

A more d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e w o o d - c u t p r o c e s s has been c o n sid e re d in C h ap ter V I.

49 co u n try f o r the f i r s t

s e v e r a l y e a rs p re c e d in g th e w ar*”7

new s t y l e ,

one p lan n e d e s p e c i a l l y f o r p o s t e r a d v e r t i s i n g ,

fected th e

af­

g e n e r a l te c h n iq u e o f most p o s t e r d e s i g n i n g ,

(P late V II). So s t r o n g w a s t h e sty le

i n f l u e n c e o f H o l w e i n and t h e G erm an

t h a t t h e r e was a t i m e when t h e t e r m p o s t e r s i g n i f i e d a

d e fin ite

tec h n iq u e .

Such l e a d i n g p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s a s P e n f i e l d

a n d B r a d l e y a d o p t e d t h e new t e c h n i q u e ( P l a t e s XX a n d X X I I ) * th e use o f a l l

However, t h e

of th e tech n iq u es,

and used i t

early

ex te n siv ely ,

’t w e n t i e s w i t n e s s e d

and a s one c r i t i c

sta te d :

The a c t u a l t e c h n i q u e of t h e a r t i s t i s n o t l i m i t e d t o ­ d a y , h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t y l e may r a n g e f r o m f l a t , b r o a d m asses to t h e m ost d e t a i l e d and p o l is h e d h a n d lin g . Q u a l i t y i s t h e aim r a t h e r t h a n a f o r m a l a n d u n y i e l d i n g o b s e r v a n c e o f a n y one p o s t e r m ed iu m .& III. It

appears

THE MODEHN PERIOD9

t h a t t h e new c y c l e o f d e s i g n w h ic h a p p e a r e d

i n 1925 h a d a s great,or.even g r e a t e r , upon any o f t h e o t h e r a s p e c t s its

sim p lic ity of lin e

effect

upon t e c h n i q u e a s

of p o s te r a r t .

and fo r m ,

b izarre

M odernism , w i t h

color-*,schem es a n d

g eo m etric a rran g em en ts o f f e r e d v a s t p o s s i b i l i t i e s

? B urton H a rrin g to n ,

The E s s e n t i a l s

f o r in g en io u s

of p o s t e r D esign,

p. 103. g L i v i n g s t o n W. L a r n e d , p.

208. 9

I l l u s t r a t i o n in A d v e rtisin g , ----------------------------------------- ----------

The "m odern p e r i o d , " u s e d h e r e a s i n s t y l e , d a t e s from a b o u t 1925 t o t h e e n t r a n c e o f th e U n ite d S t a t e s i n t o W o r l d War I I .

50 p o ste r d esig n ers.

So g r e a t w as t h e c h a n g e i n

id eas th a t

many t r e a t m e n t s n e v e r b e f o r e im a g in e d w e r e so o n r e a l i z e d , a n d new t o o l s ,

new m a t e r i a l s a n d t h e

c o o rd in a tio n of a r t and

i n d u s t r y f u r n i s h e d d e s i g n e r s w i t h new ways o f p r e s e n t i n g t h e i r d esig n s. try ;

In t h i s

new a r t n o t h i n g w as t o o

fa n ta stic to

few m edium s a n d m a t e r i a l s w e r e o v e r l o o k e d i n t h e

f o r novel and e x p r e s s io n is tic

trea tm e n ts.

d esire

C ubism , S y n c h ro n ­

ism , F u tu ris m and o t h e r s c h o o ls o f e x p r e s s io n t h a t a p p e a re d b r o u g h t m a n y new i d e a s a n d p r e s e n t a t i o n s , d e fin ite

c o n trib u tio n s , to p o s te r a r t .

T rad itio n a l are a irb ru sh illu stra tio n s

i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s o f t h e m odern t r e a t m e n t s

s p a t t e r w ork a n d d r y .b r u s h e f f e c t s , to s e c u r e form and p a t t e r n

in g and d e t a i l , in

som e o f w h i c h m a d e

sta rtlin g

r a t h e r th a n m odel­

c o n tra s ts , and black o u tlin e s

c o lo r r e n d e r i n g s I n d i v i d u a l i t y ,

in ev id en ce b u t th e

ren d erin g o f

of course,

even

has been

g e n e r a l e f f e c t s have been th o s e m entioned,

above• One o f t h e f o r e m o s t o f t h e m o d e r n t e c h n i q u e s w a s m a d e p o s s i b l e by t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e a i r b r u s h , - such m odern equipm ent i s t y p i c a l , and in d u s tr y . m ercial a r t ,

use of

of th e co o rd in atio n o f a r t

The a i r b r u s h q u i c k l y f o u n d i t s fa c ilita tin g

and t h e

p l a c e i n com­

th e te c h n iq u e im m ensely and i t

r e n d e r e d i t s e l f i n v a l u a b l e f o r w ork o f s m a ll d im e n s io n s .

F r a n k H. Y o u n g , M odern A d v e r t i s i n g A r t , p . 29

51 Sharp o u t l i n e s

and c o n tr a s t s ,

ism , w ere e a s i l y

so d e f i n i t e l y a p a r t o f m o d e rn ­

p r o d u c e d by m a s k i n g ,

w hich fo rm s a l a r g e

p a r t o f th e p ro c e s s in o rd in a ry a i r b r u s h w o rk . of th e a irb ru sh

and o t h e r t e c h n i q u e s h ave a p p e a re d a t

such a s t h a t , o f producing d e sig n s board and a i r b r u s h . ^ a irb ru sh has fa lle n rep lace

it.

a irb ru sh , stip le

T his

However,

in to

in

tim es,

c o lo r w ith sc ra p e r-

fo r c ertain

ty p e s o f work th e

d i s f a v o r a n d " s p a t t e r " h a s t e n d e d to

te c h n iq u e , w h ile s i m il a r to t h a t

of t h e

h a s c e r t a i n a d v a n t a g e s a n d m ore v a r i a t i o n s .

effect

th a t has

C om binations

t h a t h a s become so p o p u l a r r e c e n t l y i s

been u sed o f t e n by d e s i g n e r s su c h a s O t i s

The one ty p e

Shepard

in h i s W rigley p o s te r s . A nother p o s te r tec h n iq u e r e s u l t e d

from t h e m odern a r t

movement c a l l e d D adaism , w hose p r a c t i t i o n e r s w e re f o n d o f s ti c k i n g ex tran eo u s o b je c ts such a s tin ,

sp o o ls, w heels,

c l o t h a n d o t h e r t h i n g s on t h e i r d e s i g n s .

" c o l l a g e ” was a p p l i e d t o

th is

The t e r m

te c h n iq u e and p o s t e r s a p p e a re d

w ith v a rio u s m a te r ia ls a p p lie d to th e atten tio n

su rfa c e to a t t r a c t

as w e ll as to len d a f e e lin g of d ep th .

uncommon t o s e e w o o l ,

I t was n o t

c o tto n , w ire ,'w o o d -s h a v in g s and o th e r

m a t e r i a ls fasten ed ^o n t.o .-p o sters to r e p r e s e n t p a r t s

11

p ieces of

of t h e

" S i n c e t h e s c r a p e r - b o a r d h a s an e x c e l l e n t s u r f a c e , why s h o u l d n o t m o d e r n a c c e s s o r i e s , a v a i l a b l e t o a c o m m e r c i a l a r t i s t , su c h a s t h e a i r b r u s h a n d p a i n t box, a s w e l l a s pen a n d p e n k n i f e , be b r o u g h t i n t o u s e ? There a r e p r a c t i c a l a d ­ v a n ta g e s t o be g a in e d in t h i s te c h n iq u e , a p a r t from i t s

52 illu stra tio n ,

d esig n ,

o r letterin g #

12

An i n t e r e s t i n g t e c h n i q u e , a l s o

i n t h e fonn. o r a

was i n t r o d u c e d l a t e r an d a c h i e v e d s u c c e s s t h r o u g h i t s and d e c o ra tiv e

featu res.

It

relief, unique

h a s been d e s c r i b e d th u s :

I t i s a k in d o f sh allo w sh ow -case in w hich a d e s ig n i s c r e a te d and ex ecu ted w ith an u n lim ite d s e l e c t i o n o f m a te ria ls. Such m a t e r i a l s as p a p e r o f a l l k in d s , p a i n t , g l a s s , m e t a l , t e x t i l e s , l e a t h e r , wood, i n f a c t p r a c t i c a l l y a n y t h i n g c a n be u s e d i n c r e a t i n g t h i s new s t y l e o f p u b ­ lic ity . B eing in r e l i e f , i t i s c o m p le te ly d i f f e r e n t from e x i s t i n g m eth o d s. A c o n tr a s t o f l i g h t , shade and n a t u r a l c o l o u r s i s e a s i l y o b t a i n e d t h u s e l i m i n a t i n g much l a b o u r i n g o f t h e b r u s h . 13 The p o s s i b i l i t i e s

of such p o s t e r s w ere m a n ifo ld .

They

c o u ld be used e i t h e r f o r p u b l i c i t y p u rp o s e s ; p u r e l y a s d eco ­ ratio n s;

o r f o r p u b l i c i t y and d e c o r a t i o n com bined.

ap p eared in such p la c e s as e n tra n c e s to ran ts,

h o tel

lo b b ies,

passen g er steam sh ip s,

and even i n p r i v a t e hom es. scale

e ith e r.

th ea tre s,

r e c e p t i o n room s,

b u ilt

s e l l i n g pow er.

d e s i g n e d a n d m ad e b y t h e L e n c i S t u d i o s

o f I t a l y w ere im p o rted in to t h i s "m odernism * v o g u e .

co u n try a t about th e

tim e

T h e y a t t r a c t e d much a t t e n t i o n a n d ,

o f c o u rs e , w ere soon a d a p te d t o A m erican a d v e r t i s i n g .

The

(continued) i n d i v i d u a l i t y and a t t r a c t i v e n e s s . " " T h e r e A r e L o t s o f New W ays," C o m m ercial A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 1 6 : 1 0 2 , M a rch , 1 9 3 4 . 1)00 • c i t .

^

Lo c. c i t .

to

up i n t h i s w a y , h a v e

r e c e n t l y a p p e a r e d a n d so m e p o s s e s s e x c e p t i o n a l

of th e

in re s ta u ­

I n f a c t t h e r e was n o l i m i t a s

O utdoor b i l l b o a r d s ,

F e lt p o sters

They have

53 p o sters,

c o n stru cted of p ieces of b rig h tly

ap p liq u ed

in to p o s t e r d e sig n s have been used in t h e o r i g i n a l

o r reproduced fo r a l l poses.

co lo red f e l t s

so rts

o f d i s p l a y and a d v e r t i s i n g p u r-

14 P h o to g rap h y h as been t h e answ er f o r a te c h n iq u e to

produce r e a l i s t i c

p o sters.

A m erican r e a l i s t s

have, thro u g h th e

been a b le

to

In o p p o sitio n to th e m o d e rn ists, study of photography,

sh ow a c t u a l p h o t o g r a p h s o f f a c e s

on p o s t e r s w h ic h g i v e s them a l i f e - l i k e ap p ro a c h e s them .

Ma ny a r t i s t s

in c lo se-u p s

a p p e a r a n c e a s one

h a v e made s t u d i e s of c o l o r

p h o t o g r a p h y so t h a t t h e y c o u l d b e w e l l v e r s e d in t h i s n i q u e and t h e

r e s u l t h a s b e e n some f i n e p o s t e r a r t

hand l e t t e r i n g

and p h o to g rap y ,

tech ­

com bining

so m etim es s u p p le m e n te d by

d ra w in g and p a i n t i n g . In k eeping w ith th e m ech an ical p ro g re s s few y e a r s ,

new p o s t e r t e c h n i q u e s

t u s h a v e come i n t o new d i s p l a y s but a lso

e l e c t r i c m o v in g - p ic tu r e ty p e w hich

1929.

p a sse d b e fo r e l i g h t beam s.

Such

u s e d i n New Y o r k C i t y f o r m o t i q n - p i c t u r e a d v e r ­

W hile t h e s e a r e p u re n o v e l t i e s

p o ster a rt

These

in c lu d e n o t o n ly the p u re ly m echanical p o s te r

m akes use o f th e s i l h o u e t t e

tisin g .

em ploying m e c h a n ic a l a p p a r a ­

use, m ainly f o r o u td o o r a d v e r tis in g .

th e m ore r e c e n t

p o sters are

of t h e l a s t

th at

is

c lo s e ly re la te d to

th e y a re a type of

the tre n d

3-4 mpkQ * j j o e l f P o s t e r , " T he P o s t e r , ~

of th e

20:14.

tim es

January,

and th e

su b jects a d v e rtise d . P o s te r tech n iq u es a re n o t lim ite d

to th o s e m entioned,

b u t t h e y m ig h t w e l l be te r m e d t h e more i m p o r t a n t t e c h n i q u e s of th e p ast fo rty y e a rs. leum b lo c k p r i n t i n g , th o se th a t have, ad v ertisin g .

O thers such as s t e n c i l i n g ,

lin o ­

i n l a y s a n d b a s - r e l i e f m o d e l i n g a r e am ong

a t tim es,

b een em ployed i n t h i s

As new i d e a s , m a t e r i a l s ,

field

of

an d equipm ent a p p e a r

th e y a r e r e a d i l y s e i z e d by t h e d e s i g n e r s a n d a p p l i e d

i n new

w ays t h e r e b y b r i n g i n g a b o u t new t e c h n i q u e s . IV .

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLOR

C o lo r i s a n o t h e r f a c t o r w hich p l a y s a trem en d ou s part

in th e d esig n o f an e f f e c tiv e p o s te r .

quoted d e f i n i t i o n p o rtan ce of t h i s

g iv e n by H a m ilto n K in g a m p l i f i e s t h e im 15 facto r, w h i l e a n o t h e r w r i t e r h a s com pared

th e p o ste r to a ro c k e t, .

.

. a ttr a c tin g th e

a n o th er, th e

The f r e q u e n t l y

" t r a v e l i n g a t a trem endous

speed

eye as a f la s h of c o l o r . A n d

yet

o u t s t a n d i n g p i o n e e r o f A m erican p o s t e r a r t ,

Edward P e n f i e l d , esse n tia ls

h a s s t a t e d t h a t c o lo r i s one o f th e t h r e e 17 of an e ffe c tiv e p o ste r. Thus one m u st c o n c e d e

15

"The p o s t e r i s n o t a p o r t r a i t , n o r a s t u d y — i t i s an i m p r e s s i o n - - a f l a s h o f l i n e , a sweep o f c o l o r . " [ i t a l i c s n o t in th e o rig in a l] "The O p t i m i s t o f N a t i o n a l P u b l i c i t y , " The P o s t e r , 2 0 : 5 9 , S e p t e m b e r , 1929* Loo, o j t . 1*7 "A p o s t e r , t o b e e f f e c t i v e , m u s t h a v e t h e sa m e q u a l i t i e s t h a t a good p a i n t i n g p o s s e s s e s - - c o l o r , s i m p l i c i t y

55 th a t co lo r is

of the

utm ost s i g n i f i c a n c e

Many t h e o r i e s h a v e b e e n p r e s e n t e d and im p o rtan ce o f c o lo r in p o s t e r a r t . th a t

c o l o r

in

th is art*

regarding th e One c r i t i c

use

con tend s

has th re e purposes— to a t t r a c t th e eye,

por­

tr a y th e c o lo r o f a p ro d u ct, or s ig n if y a c e r ta in c h a ra c te r18 istic * A n o th e r w r i t e r e l a b o r a t e s f u r t h e r and s t a t e s t h a t in h is

own v i e w " t h e s u p r e m e j u s t i f i c a t i o n

re a lis m ." 1^

The p a r a m o u n t r e a s o n o r p u r p o s e ,

m ost a l l a u t h o r i t i e s , , i s a tten tio n *

of c o lo r i s

th a t co lo r i s

a g r e e d upon by

c h ie f ly used to a t t r a c t

A d v e rtis in g has r e a l iz e d th e v alu e of t h i s

and h a s ta k e n c o l o r a s one o f i t s The e m o t i o n a l i m p r e s s i o n s

c h i e f t o o l s . 20 i m p a r t e d by d i f f e r e n t

a re o f such im portance th a t K a u ffe r, d e s ig n e r and c r i t i c ,

facto r

c o lo rs

th e n o ted E n g lish p o s te r

h as rem arked:

I t cannot be to o o f te n r e p e a te d t h a t th e fu n c tio n o f c o lo u r in a p o s te r is n o t a c tu a l d en o tatio n o f n a tu re , b u t t o g i v e t o t h e s h a p e s i n t h e d e s i g n , w h i c h m ay b e e v e n , p u r e l y g e o m e tr ic a l, th e power o f c a u s in g th e s u i t a b l e e m o t i o n . 21

17 ( c o n t i n u e d ) and c o m p o s i t i o n . ” Edward P e n f i e l d , i n t r o d u c t i o n , P e r c i v a l P o l l a r d , P o s t e r s i n M i n i a t u r e (New Y o r k : R . H. R u s s e l l a n d Son, 189671 18 Young, o p . c i t . , p . 2 9 . 19 ”] f o r w h a t p u r p o s e d i d t h e s e a d v e r t i s e r s r e s o r t t o co lo r? R e alism , a t t r a c t a t t e n t i o n , and g iv e b e a u ty to t h e i r ads, d i s t in c t io n o f d is p la y , p sychic a t t i t u d e s of c o l o r . ” C arl R ichard G re er, A d v e rtis in g and I t s M echanical P r o d u c tio n , p p . 211- 2 1 3 . 20 L o c . c i t . 21 E . M c K n i g h t K a u f f e r ,

p . 24*

e d ito r,

The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r ,

56 Some c o l o r s h a v e b e c o m e s o c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h d i f f e r e n t moods t h a t t h e y h a v e a c q u i r e d t h r o u g h a s s o c i a t i o n em o tio n al

q u a litie s.

T h is m eans,

of course,

schem es m u st be em ployed i n p o s t e r s , m atter,

season,

o r su rro u n d in g s.

certain

d e fin ite

c o lo r

d e p e n d i n g on t h e

su bject

The a p p e a l o f c o l o r h a s

a lw ay s been c o n s id e re d by p o s t e r d e s i g n e r s .

Agnew h a s

said :

Human n a t u r e i s a t t r a c t e d b y b e a u t y a n d r e p e l l e d b y u g lin ess. As t h e e y e i s s o c o n s t i t u t e d t h a t i t s e e s o n l y c o l o r , t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h o s e tw o e x t r e m e s i s la r g e ly th e presence o r absence of co lo r; i t s p le a sin g or d isp leasin g use. I n s t i n c t i v e l y o n e ’s m ind t u r n s t o c o l o r w h e n t h e w o r d ’’b e a u t y ” i s m e n t i o n e d . The m o s t b e a u tifu l c o lo r— flo w ers, p a in tin g s, scenery, fa c e s . G a l a o c c a s i o n s a n d f e s t i v i t i e s a r e m a r k e d b y c o l o r . 22 To d i s r e g a r d t h i s a p p e a l w o u l d b e f o o l i s h n e s s , a n d s o t h e p o s t e r men, very l i f e

re a liz in g th is ,

have c o n sid e re d c o lo r a s

the

o f outdoor a d v e r tis in g . V.

EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY P0STERS2 3

C o lo r h a s n o t alw ays p la y e d su ch a n im p o rta n t p a r t p o s te r d esig n .

In th e

e a r l y 1 9 0 0 ’ s t h e r e w e r e so m e b l a c k -

a n d r w h i t e w orks and m onochrom es i n a d d i t i o n p r e s e n t c o lo r e d p o s t e r s . 2^ 22

in

to th e e v e r­

The i n f l u e n c e o f B e a r d s l e y ’ s

Hugh B . Agnew, O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g , p p .

229-230.

2 3 Tiie t e r m " e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y ” r e f e r s h e r e th e f i r s t decade, ap p ro x im ately .

to

” . . . , t h a t form o f a d v e r t i s i n g [ t h e p o s t e r ] h a s p r a c t i c a l l y a l w a y s b e e n i n c o l o u r . ” Hugh E . Agnew, " C o l o u r in A d v e r t i s i n g ,” E n cy clo p aed ia B r i t a n n i c a , 145h e d i t i o n I , 205.

57 w e ird b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e w ork, w h ic h b e g an to a p p e a r i n E n g la n d in 189 0, was e s p e c i a l l y n o t i c e a b l e

in W ill B r a d le y ’s b la c k -

an d -w h ite p o s te r s d esig n ed f o r th e b ic y c le m a n u fa c tu re rs , (P late

IX ).

Many o f B r a d l e y ’ s p o s t e r s w e r e p r o d u c e d w i t h o u t

co lo r,

th e m ost n o t a b l e b e in g a s e r i e s

In land P r i n t e r . ”

The b l a c k - a n d - w h i t e p o s t e r s d e p e n d e d upon

design r a t h e r th a n c o lo r to a t t r a c t of lig h t

d e s i g n e d f o r ’’The

and d a r k , and t h e

a tten tio n .

in tric a te

p o s t e r s w ere o u ts ta n d in g f e a t u r e s ,

l i n e w ork in

w hile

c le v e r u se s o f background p a t t e r n s t o

The p a t t e r n th ese

i n m an y t h e r e w e r e

em phasize t h e c e n t r a l

fig u re or fig u re s. C o lo r was u se d i n a s i m p l i f i e d m anner by b o th P e n f i e l d and B rad ley ,

e s p e c ia lly th e form er.

f l u e n c e c a n be s e e n i n t h e l a r g e little

o r no s h a d i n g .

.T he u s e

A d e fin ite

Japanese

f l a t a re as o f co lo r w ith

of th e

silh o u e tte w ith

co lo r

a d d e d w a s common, a s w a s t h e u s e o f c o l o r a r e a s o u t l i n e d b lack .

S h a d in g was u s u a l l y a c c o m p lish e d by t h e

b lack a re a s and th ir d

or lin e s

dim ension.

box a s l a r g e

Edward P e n f i e l d

fig u re

p l a i n y ello w c o a t, flat

used t h i s

(P la te X I),

type

of

w ith a blue

in c o n tra s t to th e

silh o u ette

W i l l B r a d l e y ’ s p o s t e r f o r The C h a p

B o o k ( P l a t e X) , h o w e v e r , fig u res,

use of p l a i n

orange l e t t e r i n g and p o s t­

a re a s o f co lo rs

o f t h e women.

in

to in d ic a te m erely th e n e c e ssa ry d e t a i l s

c o lo r in g in h is H a rp e r’s P o s te r, background,

in ­

u s e d o n l y o r a n g e a n d b l a c k on t h e

a b l u e b a c k g r o u n d , a n d so m e w h i t e a r e a s

to ach iev e a

s im p le and y e t a f f e c t i v e w o rk . The w o o d -c u t p o s t e r em ployed c o l o r a l s o . s im ila r to th e o th e rs

T h is was

hut u s u a lly w ith few er c o lo rs and th e

b la c k -a n d -w h ite w o od -cu ts w ere o f te n

e m b e llis h e d w ith one o r

m ore a d d i t i o n a l c o l o r s p r i n t e d fro m s e p a r a t e d b l o c k s . tim es o n ly a s in g le o ften

c o l o r was u se d f o r a b a c k g ro u n d w h i l e

some o f t h e l e t t e r i n g

o r d e t a i l s w ere c o lo re d a ls o ,

in C ooper’s w ood-cut p o s t e r , p o s te r and th e

Som e­

(P la te X V III).

as

The w o o d -cu t

ty p e d e s i g n e d by P e n f i e l d , w i t h t h e i r f l a t

m asses o f c o lo r,

w ere t h e f o r e r u n n e r s

o f t h e German p o s t e r

s t y l e w h ic h a c h ie v e d su c h fam e and p ro m in e n c e . Of c o u r s e t h e r e w e re o t h e r m eth o d s o f u s i n g c o l o r i n p o ster ad v ertisin g . p a in tin g ,

used th e

Ma ny a n a r t i s t , , sa m e s t y l e

’’m o d e l e d ” t e c h n i q u e , to th e

sim p le,

flat

w ell versed

f o r h i s p o s t e r w ork and t h i s

u s i n g m ore c o l o r s , areas

of co lo r.

was a d i r e c t c o n t r a s t

The f o r m e r b e c a m e so

p r o m in e n t i n A m erica t h a t one w r i t e r re m a r k s , p o ster a l l

to o

soon became a n a f f a i r

m ent— a v e r i t a b l e

in o il-

’’T h e A m e r i c a n

of in tra c ta b le

o il

p ig ­

p a in ted se p u lch re of th e tru e p o s te r p o ten -

t i a l . ,,25 V I.

1 9 1 2 TO THE PRESENT

The German p o s t e r

sty le,

25 C h r i s t i a n B r i n t o n , M agazine o f A r t , 3 0 :2 8 9 .

in tro d u ced

’’P o s t e r ,

in to

th is

co u n try

P ro sp ect and R etro sp ect,

59 in 1912,

b r o u g h t a b o u t a new u s e o f c o l o r .

W hereas t h e

flat

a r e a s o f c o lo r w ere used b e f o r e w ith o u t th o u g h t o f s h a d in g , and th e

o il-p a in tin g

te c h n iq u e em phasized t h e use o f s h a d in g

and th ir d - d im e n s io n r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a co m p o site s t y l e .

t h i s new s t y l e w as r e a l l y

C o lo r was a p p l i e d

in f l a t

s h a d o w s w e r e a l s o shown i n c o l o r s a p p l i e d T h e new u s e o f f l a t

areas,

in th e

sa m e w a y .

c o lo rs had g r e a t p o s s i b i l i t i e s ,

soon a d a p t e d by A m erican d e s i g n e r s .

The c h a n g e i s

s e e n i n t h e w o r k o f P e n f i e l d Ts p o s t e r f o r H a r t ,

but

a n d was easily

S chaffner

a n d M a r x ( P l a t e XX) , a s c o m p a r e d t o h i s e a r l i e r w o r k ( P l a t e X II).

H e re h e h a s i n t r o d u c e d m ore c o l o r s ,

m ore v a l u e s ,

in stead

of th e

T hat the v iv id

use of c e r t a i n est

few h e p r e v i o u s l y

in te n s ity o f th e c o lo rs

p o s t e r may b e s t a r t l i n g w ell i l l u s t r a t e d

e sp e c ia lly red,

o f th e p u b lic and t o

red,

w h ite,

V ario u s

o rg an izatio n s

em ployed i n a

T h e r e was a d e f i n i t e to stim u la te th e

arouse d e fin ite

T h e r e was a t t h i s t i m e , a l s o , c o lo rs,

em ployed.

a n d c a r r y a s e n s a t i o n o f s u r p r i s e was

in th e war p o s t e r s .

co lo rs,

and e s p e c i a l l y

in te r­

em otional re s p o n s e s .

a tendency to

use th e n a t i o n a l

and b lu e in th e p a t r i o t i c

p o sters.

e m p l o y e d t o so m e e x t e n t t h e

c o lo rs

a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e i r e m b l e m s a n d w o r k , a s s e e n i n t h e Hed C ross p o s t e r s . The p o s t - w a r p o s t e r s c o n t i n u e d , w i t h v a r i e d to supply th e p r in c ip le s tio n to

success,

o f t h e psychology of c o lo r in r e l a ­

em otional resp o n se s.

One a r t i s t ,

M a u r i c e D e l Mue,

60 has i ll u s t r a te d

th is

p o in t

in h is

statem en t,

was to a d v e r t i s e w i n t e r t r a v e l I h a d t o pa c o lo r to n es." In a n o th e r a p p lic a tio n he s t a t e s ,

"A s t h e p o s t e r

l e n d w arm th by warm o f c o lo r psychology

" T h i s p o s t e r w a s t o a p p e a r a t a t i m e w he n t h e

g e n e r a l r u n was r e d a n d y e ll o w , p o s t e r w ould s t a n d o u t . "^7 plan n in g i s

seen in

so I f e l t

t h a t a b ig blue

A n o th e r exam ple o f good c o l o r

c o ld b lu e to n e s u sed by C h e s t e r f i e l d

in

"C hosen by t h e Byrd E x p e d i t i o n . " One u s e o f c o l o r t h a t p r o v e d q u i t e

s u c c e s s f u l was

t h a t o f a s i n g l e c o l o r schem e f o r a l l t h e p o s t e r s a d v e r t i s i n g a s in g le pro d u ct.

S o m ething i n t h e d i s t i n c t i v e

and r e l a t e d

c h a ra c te r of such a s e r ie s p resen ted a t re g u la r in te r v a ls le ft

an im p ressio n , n o t of any s in g le p o s te r,

e ral,

broad cam paign.

C olum bia

c e s s f u l in su ch a program ; and v i v id c o n tr a s t s

of p o sters

gen­

d r y b a t t e r i e s was m ost s u c ­

i n t h e p o w e r f u l name p l a t e d i s p l a y

of r e d and b la c k ,

han d led in f l a t m a s s e s . ^

but of a

r e d and d a r k b l u e ,

A nother f in e

f o r D o dg e B r o t h e r s .

e x am p le was t h e

T h is cam paign,

sta rte d

series in

1 9 1 4 , was n o t a b l e f o r a c o l o r schem e o f b lu e a n d w h i t e and f o r the

unifo rm ity of a l l

the p o s te rs .

The u se

of w h ite

o n a b l u e b a c k g r o u n d b e c a m e s o w e l l known t h a t 26

letters

i t was n o t

A u g u s t a L e i n a r d , " M a u r i c e D e l Mue— T h e A r t i s t , " The P o s t e r , 2 1 :2 7 , J a n u a r y , 1 9 3 0 . Loc. c i t .

28

L arned,

o£.

c i t .,

p.

204*

61 n ecessary to a c tu a lly

rea d th e m essage in o r d e r 29 p r o d u c t was b e i n g a d v e r t i s e d . "The " m o d e r n i s t " movement h a s h a d e f f e c t s t h a t w ere s i g n i f i c a n t .

The s i m p l i f i c a t i o n

t o know w h a t

on c o l o r

o f desig n n a tu ra lly

dem anded f e w e r c o l o r s w i t h a n e m p h a s is on b r o a d f l a t

areas,

( P l a t e X X IX ).

T here h a s a ls o been a te n d e n c y to use p u r e r 30 and b r i g h t e r c o l o r s . E s p e c i a l l y i s t h i s t r u e i n A m erican w ork.

One c r i t i c

h as rem arked:

Our A m e ric a n p o s t e r s , w i t h t h e i r o v e r - i n s i s t e n c e on th e p rim ary c o lo u r s , have a tend en cy to v i b r a t e to o m u ch i n t h e c l e a r o u t d o o r l i g h t o f t h i s c o u n t r y . The m ore s o p h i s t i c a t e d c o l o u r sy s te m s o f o t h e r c o u n t r i e s c o u l d be a d o p t e d by us t o a d v a n t a g e , n o t s o much f o r t h e i r a r t i s t i c v a lu e as f o r t h e i r s h e e r l e g i b i l i t y .3 1 The u s e o f t h e p o s t e r w i t h few c o l o r s , i n f l u e n c e d b y t h e European i d e a s , c o n d itio n s

w a s i - t o som e e x t e n t t h e

of th e

w ere t h e r e s u l t

early t h ir t i e s .

resu lt

o f t h e econom ic

S i m p l i f i e d c o l o r schem es

of th e newer a r t t e n d e n e i e s . ^

" P r a c t i c a l l y everyone re c o g n iz e s a t a g la n c e th e b l u e b a c k g r o u n d a n d w h i t e l e t t e r i n g o f Dodge B r o t h e r s * o u t ­ d o o r a d v e r t i s i n g — i n f a c t , p e o p l e come s u b c o n s c i o u s l y t o t h i n k o f D o d g e B r o t h e r s * nam e b e f o r e t h e c o p y i s d i s t i n g u i s h ­ a b l e . " W ilm ot L i p p i n c o t t , O u td o o r A d v e r t i s i n g , p . 2 4 6 . 30 " C o l o r s t o d a y [1 9 3 0 ] a r e p u r e r , t h e r e i s l e s s brown, and th e y a re b r i g h t e r and c l e a n e r ." L e in a rd , o p . c i t ., p . 27. 31 Rene C l a r k e , " A m e ric a n P o s t e r A r t , " 1 7 t h A r t D i r e c ­ t o r s Annual A d v e r tis in g A rt, p . 116. 32 " O b s e r v a b l e a l s o on t h e c o n t i n e n t o f E u ro p e i s a s t r i k i n g use o f tw o -co lo u r e f f e c t s in d e sig n . T his i s a m ethod w h ic h i s a t o n c e a t t r a c t i v e a n d e c o n o m ic a l and by j u d i c i o u s u s e c a n o f t e n b e m a d e a s s a t i s f y i n g a s i f m any, c o l o u r s w e r e e m p l o y e d . ” P . A . M e r c e r a n d W. G a u n t , e d i t o r s , M odern P u b l i c i t y 1 9 3 2 .

62 The l a s t

d e c a d e h a s b r o u g h t a b o u t a new c o l o r c o n ­

s c i o u s n e s s by t h e fu rn ish in g s,

general p u b lic .

clo th in g ,

w ith t h e i r added c o lo r, home,

in

b u sin ess,

To k e e p up w i t h

have,

b rig h te n e d o ur surroundings in th e phases of our d a ily liv in g .

c o l o r - a g e a d v e r t i s i n g h a s h a d t o m ake

th e m ost o f c o lo r and i n t h i s o t h e r human a c t i v i t i e s ,

field ,

as

in a m u ltitu d e o f

co lo r is a t l a s t

com ing i n t o

Of t h e v a s t sums a n n u a l l y s p e n t f o r a d v e r t i s i n g e s t i m a t e d t h a t m o re money i s

in v ested

produced in f u l l c o lo r ,

in any o f

Thus t h e

household

and o th e r everyday n e c e s s i t i e s

and i n a l l

th is

A u to m o b iles,

ro le of co lo r

th an

in p o s te r a r t

its

own.

i t has been

in p o s te rs ,

now a l w a y s 33 t h e o t h e r m edium s. ^

is w e ll d e sc rib e d in th e

fo llo w in g statem en t: C h ief exponent o f c o lo r i n n a tio n a l p u b l ic i ty is th e p o s t e r w hich to d ay h o ld s f o r t h i t s p r is m a tic beacon in th o u s a n d s o f c i t i e s and to w n s, a t t r a c t i n g t h e eyes o f a l e g i o n tow ard th e lim n ed r e p r o d u c tio n o f n u m b e rle s s a r t i c l e s o f comm erce, a l l o f w h ic h go f a r to w a rd t h e e n r i c h m e n t o f c i v i l i z e d l i f e . 34

^ "One a u t h o r i t y e s t i m a t e d t h a t a d v e r t i s e r s e a c h y e a r pay f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f m ore th a n f i f t e e n m i l l i o n d r a w in g s and p a in t i n g s . U sers o f O utdoor A d v e r ti s in g a n n u a lly i n v e s t l a r g e sums i n d e s i g n — l a r g e r , p e r h a p s , t h a n t h e i r p r o p o r ­ t i o n a t e a r t i n v e s t m e n t i n o t h e r m a jo r m edium s, b e c a u s e a l l f i n i s h e d p a i n t i n g s f o r O utdoor use a r e in f u l l c o l o r , t h e r e b e in g no b la c k -a n d -w h ite w o rk ." O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g - - The M odern M a r k e t i n g J o r c e , p . 193* 34 1929.

T r i u m p h - o f C o l o r , " The P o s t e r ,

2 0 :6 5 ,

S eptem ber,

CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT IN REPRODUCTION OF AMERICAN POSTER ART SINCE 1 9 0 0 A co m p reh en siv e. study o f re p ro d u c tio n and i t s ment sh o u ld c o n s id e r n o t o n ly th e a r t

of th e p o ster but a lso

te c h n ic a l in fo rm a tio n co n cern in g th e d u p lic a tio n o f a rtists*

work.^"

S in ce pure a r t o r f i n e

art

e x p r e s s io n o f h i m s e l f and com m ercial a r t c a t i o n o f th e power o f a r t t o necessary th a t th ere

fore,

th e a r t i s t fs

i s m erely th e a p p l i ­

com m ercial p u r p o s e s ,

it

ad d itio n ,

re p e titio n

if

it

is

is necessary th a t th ese d esigns

req u ired ,

t o be e f f e c t i v e .

o f d is p la y has proved to

of p o s te rs th ro u g h o u t c i t i e s , cessitated ad eq u ate

the

In

be such a

c o u n tless d u p lic a tio n s

tow ns a n d o t h e r a r e a s h a s n e ­

rep ro d u ctio n

of th e o rig in a l

the p ro c e sse s in v o lv ed be c o n s i d e r e d ,

desig n s.

It

in th e rep ro d u c tio n

sin ce th e a r t

of a p o ste r

th e process th a t is-m o st s u ita b le ,

to reproduce

th ere­

s i n c e a d v e r t i s i n g m u s t be s e e n b y

dom inant form o f p r e s e n t a t i o n t h a t

o ften d ic ta te s

is

to th e

The j o b o f r e p r o d u c i n g t h e d e s i r e d w o rk i s ,

v a s tly im p o rtan t,

sid ered

the

i n t h e a d v e r t i s i n g b r a n c h o f com m ercial a r t

many p e o p l e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y

of

is

b e som e a d e q u a t e w a y o f p r e s e n t i n g t h i s a r t

p u b lic.

d evelop­

o r even

it.

T e c h n ic a l term s and t h e i r d e f i n i t i o n s have been con­ in th e g lo s s a r y .

64 T w en tieth c e n tu r y developm ents in p r i n t i n g and r e p r o ­ d u c ti o n have been c o n t r i b u t i n g a g e n ts t o t h e fo rw a rd m arch of p o ster a d v e rtisin g .

S cien tific

d iscovery,

m e c h a n i c a l i n v e n t i o n s h a v e so i n f l u e n c e d t h e e q u ip m e n t em ployed i n

v alu ab le d u stry

th is

p ro ce sses and

rep roducing p o s te r a r t th a t th e

h a s become o n e o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s Th e p r o g r e s s i n

re s e a r c h and

field ,

c o n trib u tio n s,

p o ster

in a d v e rtis in g .

due i n a g r e a t p a r t t o t h e s e

has retu rn ed la rg e

in t h e form o f im proved p o s t e r s ,

d iv id en d s to i n ­

m ore e f f e c t i v e a d -

v e r t i s i n g and in c re a s e d b u s in e s s . R ep ro d u ctio n ,

u n lik e

h a s n o t been a f f e c t e d m ents o f a r t

a s much b y t h e

a s by t h e

produced m ech an ical, T herefore,

tren d s,

in p o ster a rt, s t y l e s a n d move­

i n v e n t i o n s and d i s c o v e r i e s

th a t have

c h e m ic a l a n d t e c h n i c a l im provem ents.^)

th is

stu d y o f t h e developm ent o f re p ro d u c ­

tio n has no t been d iv id e d th e o th e r a sp e c ts

th e o th e r f a c to r s

in to

chronological p erio d s,

a s w ere

co n sid ered in th e preced in g c h a p te rs .

R a th e r th e v a rio u s p ro c e s s e s have been p re s e n te d , w ith a d iscu ssio n

of th e changes and p ro g ress w ith in

as th e ir e ffe cts

upon p o s t e r a r t

W ood-cut p r o c e s s . p rin tin g p o sters

them a s w e l l

in th e tw e n tie th

cen tu ry .

P o s s i b l y t h e o l d e s t m ethod o f

i s th e w ood-block o r w ood-cut p r o c e s s .

^ S i d n e y R. J o n e s , A r t a n d P u b l i c i t y , p . 1 6 .

The

6$ p o s t e r s done by t h i s m ethod have p ro v e d t o

be c o n s i d e r a b l y

c h e a p e r t h a n t h o s e r e p r o d u c e d by m o s t o t h e r p r o c e s s e s , as lith o g rap h y ,

a n d c a n be made i n s m a l l

p a ra tiv e ly sho rt

tim e .^

q u a n titie s

B efore th e in v e n tio n

such

i n a com ­

of lith o g rap h y

t h e w o o d - c u t p r o c e s s was u s e d e x c l u s i v e l y f o r t h e p r o d u c t i o n of p rin te d , used o fte n v alu e

illu stra te d

p o s te rs and s in c e

by c a p a b l e a r t i s t s ,

o f t h i s m ethod f o r

who h a v e r e a l i z e d t h e p r a c t i c a l

certain^ ty p e s o f p o sters^

F. C. C o o p e r’s "A m erica’s T r ib u te In .fa c t t h e r e have been r e v i v a l s tim e

to tim e

m ent, is

• . e n g r a v i n g on wood, its

is

( P la te X V III)*

o f w ood-cut p o s te r s from

afte r

ty p e-h ig h ^ and is

used i n ty p e.

c e n t u r y was n o t u n l i k e t h a t before,

th e a c tu a l p rin tin g th e b lo ck s

th e p r in tin g p re ss The p r o c e s s o f p r o ­

5

op.

b eg in n in g

u s e d f o r many d e c a d e s o r

p ro cesses r a th e r th an

in th e c u ttin g

t h a t w ere used to p r i n t th e p o s t e r s .

Jones,

the

and m ost o f t h e d i f f e r e n c e s w ere i n

3 W ilm ot L i p p i n c o t t ,

k

sta te ­

a long p e rio d o f e c lip s e ,

d u c in g p o s t e r s by use o f th e w o o d -cu t a s used a t

even c e n t u r i e s

the

te c h n ic a lly sp eak ing , p i c t o r i a l ty p e

a l o n e o r com bined w ith p r i n t i n g

of th is

such as

own a g a i n i n t h e a d v e r t i s i n g w o r l d .

The w o o d - c u t i s , it

to B r i ta i n ,"

such a s t h a t d e s c r i b e d a b o u t 1925 i n

com ing i n t o

sin ce

t h a t tim e has been

c it.,

of

I n one r e s p e c t

O utdoor A d v e r t i s i n g , p .

57*

p. 17.

T ype-high r e f e r s to th e h e ig h t o f p r i n t i n g a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 1 /1 2 o f a n i n c h .

ty p e,

66 th e w ood-cut d i f f e r e d from o th e r p r o c e s s e s , wood b l o c k s w e r e

c u t by th e a r t i s t

o ften the

h i m s e l f and he th e n became

an in d is p e n s a b l e p a r t o f t h e p r o c e s s , H ow ever, t h e r e w e re c r a f t s m e n t h a t i n g s h a d b e e n made by t h e a r t i s t s

sin ce

not

ju st a d esig n er.

cut b locks a f t e r th e and a f t e r

c u ttin g th e

b l o c k s p a s s e d t h e m o n t o t h e p r i n t e r who c o m p l e t e d t h e When e x e c u t e d

in

t h i s w ay t h e

processes req u irin g

sep arate

p roduction w ith th e a r t i s t

o ften

p r o c e s s was s i m i l a r to

a c tin g only as th e affectin g th is

o th er

ap p le,

pear,

designer*

p ro c e s s w ere th e

and c u t t i n g te c h n iq u e s em ployed.

used w ere beech,

The w o o d s m o s t

c h e r r y o r w hitew ood, and

t h e b l o c k s fro m t h e s e woods w e r e a v a i l a b l e

in lim ite d

t h u s m aking t h e w o o d -c u t p o s t e r s r a t h e r s m a ll i n s i z e many b l o c k s w e r e c o m b i n e d . sep arate

Each c o lo r p r i n t e d

b lo ck and a s e p a r a t e p r i n t i n g so i t

to have c a r e f u l d e sig n in g and c u ttin g , u s i n g more t h a n o n e o r two c o l o r s . unheard o f to

alth o u g h d esigns

sizes u n less

req u ired a

was n e c e s s a r y

e sp e c ia lly f o r p o sters

N ev erth eless,

i t was n o t

h a v e w o o d - c u t p o s t e r s w i t h a s many a s

d iffe re n t hues,

jo b .

tech n ician s f o r each p a rt of th e

Two i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r s m aterials

draw ­

six

o f f e w e r c o l o r s w e re m ore

common. M achine m e th o d s have g r e a t l y c h a n g e d th e m aking o f w ood-cuts in th e l a s t traced

few d e c a d e s.

Nowadays th e d e s i g n

o r p r i n t e d from a p h o to g rap h n e g a tiv e

t h e wood, and m ost o f t h e

e n g r a v i n g i s done

in rev erse by a m achine

is on

67 w i t h o n ly a sm a ll amount o f handw ork n e c e s s a r y t o f i n i s h c a ttin g . in th e

the

In a d d itio n th e w ood-blocks a re n o t u s u a lly p la c e d

press,

b u t i n s t e a d a c o p p e r s h e l l i s made by im m e r s i n g 1

th e b lo c k s in a ch em ical b a th .

Then t h e s h e l l

is

f i l l e d w ith

le a d and used f o r p r i n t i n g .

T h i s 4a ag»©^ed m e t h o d h a s m a d e

p o ssib le

fo r a lo n g er p erio d

th e

w ith l i t t l e

use o f th e

cu ts

o f tim e

o r n o w e a r on t h e m e t a l b l o c k s i n s u r i n g t h e

c le a rn e ss and sharpness to

a ll

th e c o p ies p r in te d ;

o t h e r i m p r o v e m e n t s h a v e made t h e w o o d - c u t p r o c e s s d a t e means o f p r o d u c in g c o n te m p o r a r y p o s t e r a r t

same

These and an u p - t o -

com parable

w i t h o t h e r m odern r e p r o d u c t i o n m ethods, /

L ith o g rap h y .

Of t h e

have~~~affected p o s t e r a r t tic u lar,

and d i s c o v e r i e s

th at

in g e n e ra l and r e p ro d u c tio n in p a r ­

In v en ted

com poser, A loys S e n e f e l d e r ,

i n 1796 by a B a v a r i a n a c t o r -

lith o g rap h y

offered

f o r s u c h medium s a s a d v e r t i s i n g

The p r o c e s s

vast p o ssi-

and p o s t e r a r t .

e v o lv e d by S e n e f e l d e r was f u n d a m e n ta lly t h e

a s th e lith o g ra p h y of today. a ttra c ts

in v en tio n s

one o f th e m ost im p o r t a n t a n d f a r - r e a c h i n g o f a l l

has been lith o g r a p h y .

b ilitie s

/

fi sa m e

B a se d on t h e f a c t t h a t g r e a s e

g re a se and i s r e p e l le d

by w a te r ,

t h e d e s i g n was

£ A c c i d e n t a l l y a l a u n d r y l i s t was w r i t t e n on a s l a b o f lim e sto n e w ith a g re a sy crayon. From t h i s h u m b le b e g i n ­ n i n g S e n e f e l d e r b eg an e x p e r i m e n t i n g and so o n th e p r o c e s s was d eveloped f o r p r i n t i n g p u rp o se s.

68 draw n w i t h a g r e a s y s u b s t a n c e ,

u s u a lly crayon,

(m etal or p ap er -su rfaces have sin c e p rin te d .

b e e n u s e d ) , and t h e n

The s t o n e u s e d b y S e n e f e l d e r w a s e s p e c i a l l y a d a p t e d

fo r u se in th e p ro cess because i t grease

on a s to n e

and w a te r ,

rep laced th e

h ad an e q u a l a f f i n i t y

for

b u t to d a y m e ta l p l a t e s have alm o st e n t i r e l y

sto n es

in lith o g ra p h y .

W here s t o n e s a r e

still

used th e p re fe re n c e

i s f o r s t o n e s w h i c h come f r o m t h e n e i g h 7 borhood o f S e n e f e l d e r ’ s e x p e rim e n ts . L i t h o g r a p h y was n o t i n t r o d u c e d i n t o A m e ric a u n t i l 1816,

the f i r s t

tratio n tisin g

job o f l i t h o g r a p h i c p r i n t i n g b e i n g an i l l u s ­

f o r a m agazine. ad ap ted to

p o ster.

H ow ever,

th e lith o g ra p h ic

th e e a r l i e s t form o f a d v e r­ f i e l d was th e o u td o o r

B e f o r e a n y a t t e m p t w as made t o u s e t h i s

lab e ls,

calen d ars,

p o sters

in v iv id

d isp lay ed .

process fo r

d i s p l a y s and o t h e r form s o f a d v e r t i s i n g ,

c o lo r s w ere b e in g lith o g r a p h e d and w id e ly

W hile t h e p r i n t e d l i t h o g r a p h e d p o s t e r i s

m ore t h a n a c e n t u r y o ld i t

a little

h a rd ly a s s e rte d i t s e l f u n t i l th e

’ e i g h t i e s an d s i n c e t h a t tim e h a s u n d e r g o n e many v i c i s s i t u d e s . The r o t a r y p r e s s ,

developed in th e 1890’ s ,

degree of p r e c is io n to th e

p rin tin g of

g a v e a new

c o lo r s and a ls o

m i t t e d l i t h o g r a p h i n g o f m ore t h a n one c o l o r a t a t i m e .

per­ L ig h t

7

Much o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n f o r t h i s a n d t h e f o l l o w i n g t h r e e p a r a g r a p h s was o b t a i n e d fro m o b s e r v a t i o n and fro m a b o o k let e n t i t l e d T r i p T h ro u g h 'W estern L i t h o g r a p h y C o. , Los A n g e l e s , C a l i f o r n i a .

8

... E . M c K n i g h t K a u f f e r ,

p* x .

e d ito r,

The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r ,

8

69 m etal stra p p e d around a c y lin d e r , p re s s w ith i t s

g rea tly

m aking p o s s i b l e

in creased p roduction,

th e r o t a r y

p ro v ed to be

much m o re s u c c e s s f u l a n d e f f e c t i v e t h a n t h e h e a v y s t o n e s fo rm erly used.

In the

tw e n tie th cen tu ry t h i s

i n g h a s been e x t e n s i v e l y em ployed i n t h e p o sters

rep ro d u ctio n of

and changes have been e f f e c t e d alm o st

t h e new d e v e l o p m e n t s i n

type of p r i n t ­

c o n t i n u a l l y by

th e p r i n t i n g and r e p r o d u c t i o n i n d u s ­

trie s . T w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y l i t h o g r a p h y h a s made e x t e n s i v e u s e of

th e " o f f s e t ” p ro c e s s .^

general

use o n ly s in c e

goes back to I 875. tin .

W hile t h i s

th e tu rn

of th e c e n tu ry ,

its

o rig in

Then i t was em ployed i n l i t h o g r a p h i n g

The new p r o c e s s was a t

facto ry

p r o c e s s h a s come i n t o

fo r a p p lica tio n

first

to p ap er,

b e lie v e d to but

on

be u n s a t i s ­

ex p erim en tatio n de­

v e l o p e d t h a t o f f s e t p r i n t i n g n o t o n l y c o u l d be d o n e on p a p e r but th a t

it

had d e f i n i t e a d v a n ta g e s .

p leasin g e ffe c t, h ig h ly d e s ira b le .

g iv in g

to

As t h i s

p o s te r rep ro d u c tio n has

I t a ffo rd e d a very

illu stra tio n s

a so ftn ess

p ro c e s s h a s d eveloped i t s

in creased

u n til

made p o s s i b l e 9

use in

today o f f s e t p r in tin g

h a s made t h e l i t h o g r a p h e d p o s t e r a l e a d e r The e x t e n s i v e

o ften

in a d v e r t i s i n g .

use o f c o lo r in p o s t e r a r t h a s b een

by t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f p h o t o - e n g r a v i n g p r o c e s s e s .

O ffset p rin tin g is in d ire c t. A ru b b er b lan k et p re s s e s a g a in s t the p ap er and t r a n s f e r s th e in k to i t .

70 I n t h e p e r i o d b e tw e e n 1880 a n d 1893 a d v e r t i s i n g a r t w as g re a tly

i n f l u e n c e d by t h i s

developm ent an d s in c e th e n t h e

s t e a d y im provem ent o f t h e p r o c e s s and s u b s e q u e n t d ev elo p m en t o f o th e rs have f o s te r e d grap h ic

its

growth.**"^

R e p r o d u c t io n by l i t h o ­

draughtsm en o f o r i g i n a l draw ings

i n monochrome a n d

c o lo r have been r a p id ly su p e rse d e d by p h o to g ra p h ic m ethods. The m o d ern m a n n e r

(a p h o t o - m e c h a n i c a l one) w h e re b y c o l o r

n e g a tiv e s a r e s e c u re d by s c i e n t i f i c o f th e

c o lo rs o f the o r ig in a l

p h o to g rap h ic

design,

h a s b e e n made p o s s i b l e

by t h e d e v e lo p m e n t o f p h o to g r a p h y and t h e cal scien ce.

L ik ew ise,

d isse c tio n

p ro g re s s of m echani­

th e p r i n t i n g o f t h e n e g a tiv e on s h e e ts

o f z in c w hich have been s e n s i t i z e d

sim ila rly

to p h o to g ra p h ic

p a p e r h a s b e e n made p o s s i b l e . The e l i m i n a t i o n o f much o f n ecessary in term ed iate

step s has in creased th e e ffic ie n c y of

r e p ro d u c tio n and a t th e appeared

th e hand l a b o r an d un­

sa me t i m e a b e t t e r q u a l i t y

in p o s te r re p ro d u c tio n .

M a c h i n e s a r e now p r o d u c e d t o

d e a l w ith ev ery phase of lith o g r a p h ic p rin tin g

of th re e

p o ssib le

to reproduce

tab le

or four co lo rs

accuracy th e

o f w ork h a s

p rin tin g ,

even to th e

sim u ltan eo u sly .

It

i s now

in u n lim ite d q u a n t i t i e s and w i t h c r e d i ­

prod u ctio n s of th e a r t i s t ,

w hatev er h is

tech n iq u e L ess im p o rtan t p ro c e s s e s .

L ess im p o rtan t a re o th e r

10 C a r l R i c h a r d G r e e r , A d v e r t i s i n g P r o d u c t i o n , p* 2 9 1 . 11

L oc. c i t .

and I t s

M echanical

71 rep ro d u ctio n pro cesses

o f which, o n e t y p e k no w n a s

ing

h as proved to

k in d s

o f p o s t e r a r t r e q u i r i n g o n ly a l i m i t e d number o f

co p ies. years,

be s a t i s f a c t o r y

ste n cil-

f o r pro d u cin g c e r ta in

T h is ty p e o f re p ro d u c tio n , h a s o n l y r e c e n t l y come i n t o

in g and p o s t e r w ork. k in d s of s te n c ils

s t e n c i l m a te r ia l th ro u g h w hich p a in t th is,

as

has s i l k is

i n most o t h e r r e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s e s ,

is

th e

cost

of p roduction

p rin tin g .

c lo th as th e

f o r c e d . " * -^

r e q u ir e s a s e p a ra te p r i n t i n g and in t h i s ste n c il,

th e m ost p r a c t i c a l

known a s s i l k - s c r e e n

a s t h e name s u g g e s t s ,

a d v ertis­

and have been v a r i o u s

em ployed i n t h i s w ork, is

u s e f o r many

g e n e r a l use f o r

W hile t h e r e a r e

a n d commonly u s e d m e th o d T h is p r o c e s s ,

alth ou g h in

S ince

in

each c o lo r

case a sep arate

r i s e s a s th e num ber o f c o l o r s

in creased . I n d u s t r y h as used

each y ear sin ce ago.

it

s i l k - s c r e e n p r i n t i n g m ore an d more

came i n t o

S in c e i t was f i r s t

p o p u la r use ab o u t f i f t e e n

used f o r a d v e r t i s i n g ,

been an e x c e l l e n t m ethod f o r t e x t i l e

p rin tin g ,

years

h av in g fo rm erly im provem ents

have ap p eared in th e p ro d u c tio n and o p e ra tio n p ro c e d u re s, in a la rg e p a rt to

o r ink

sc ien tific

due

and te c h n ic a l d is c o v e r ie s and

12 S t e n c i l i n g r e q u i r e s a p a t t e r n i s fo rc e d to produce th e d e sig n .

th r o u g h w hich

p a in t

P a in t is scraped a cro ss th e s ilk s tre tc h e d over a fram e, and w here t h e r e a re open in gs in th e d esign th e p a in t i s f o r c e d th r o u g h t h e s i l k o n to t h e m a t e r i a l below .

72 in v en tio n s. of

The d e v e l o p m e n t

c a ttin g th e

s te n c il have

in th e l a s t sim p lified

th e a c t u a l w ork i n ­

v o lv e d a s w e l l as im proved th e r e s u l t s . s i l k - s c r e e n work a r e t h a t when l e s s

d e c a d e o f new m e th o d s

The a d v a n t a g e s o f

t h a n one th o u s a n d c o p i e s

o f a p o s t e r a r e t o b e made t h e y c a n be p r o d u c e d m o re q u i c k l y and ch eap ly

th a n by use o f t h e p r i n t i n g p r e s s ;

b r i g h t e r c o l o r s h a v e b e en made a v a i l a b l e d u e t o p a in ts;

th e

p rin tin g ;

cost

o f e q u i p m e n t i s m uch l e s s

and t h e l a b o r in v o lv e d

few h i g h l y - s k i l l e d v a r ious s te p s

is

tech n ician s a re req u ire d

th an in p re ss sin c e very

in any o f th e

of re p ro d u c tio n .

h a v e b e e n done by t h i s w ork i n t h e l a s t

process.

few y e a r s ,

th e In d ian C ourt E x h ib it a t

serv ices,

and e v e n ts

O f t h e s e som e o f t h e

such as t h e

series

fin est

of p o sters fo r

t h e G olden G ate E x p o s i t i o n ,

b e e n p r o d u c e d b y t h e P e d e r a l A r t P r o j e c t .3-4

sm all

sp ecial

l e s s expensive

P o s te rs f o r v ario u s p ro d u cts,

p o sters,

c le a r e r and

a s m ost o f th o s e done by t h i s

( a b o u t tw o f e e t b y t h r e e f e e t )

has

These p a r t i c u l a r

process,

w ere r a t h e r

and w ith l e s s

th an s ix

c o lo rs• )

S c h o o ls and o th e r i n s t i t u t i o n s

fa c ilitie s

w ith lim ite d p r in tin g

h a v e g r a d u a l l y a d o p t e d t h e ' - s l - l k - s c r e e n ™ ' P* 192. 5

B r in to n ,

o jd

.

o it.,

p . 291*

100 tim es.

Nowadays on e f r e e

d e ta il.

stro k e

t a k e s t h e p l a c e o f much

T h e same p r i n c i p l e o f s i m p l i c i t y

one f i n d s

in a l l

branches o f a r t .

The c o n t e m p o r a r y a d v e r t i s i n g /

a p p lie s here th a t

a rtist,

e sp ecially

in th e

p o s t e r medium, h a s t o d o more, b r a i n w o r k t o d a y t h a n e v e r b e ­ fore

if

tre n d . th e

he w a n ts t o k e e p a b r e a s t o r a h ea d o f th e m odern O nly t r u e

u n d e rstan d in g and a profound f e e lin g fo r

s p i r i t of th e tim es

q u a litie s

only w i l l

w i l l h e l p him to

ju stify

succeed.

These

him t o e x e r t upon t h e p u b l i c

th e

i n f lu e n c e w hich he h a s th ro u g h h i s e x c e l l e n t and p o w erfu l m edium .

y As f o r t h e f u t u r e

b y Guy D e p i e r e , in te rn a tio n a l

of p o ster a rt,

i t h as been su g g ested

fam ous B e lg i a n c o m m e rc ia l a r t i s t ,

sty le

be d e v e lo p e d ,

th at

and h i s v ie w p o in t

an

is p re­

sen ted in th e sta te m e n t: The f u t u r e o f t h e p o s t e r a n d o f c o m m e r c i a l a r t i n g e n e r a l w i l l d e p e n d upon t h e m axim um i n t e n s i t y o f e x p r e s ­ s io n b ein g o b ta in e d w ith t h e m in i m u m n u m b e r o f l i n e s a n d The s u p p r e s s i o n o f a l l n o n - e s s e n t i a l s , t h e co lo u rs. a t t a i n m e n t o f a com pact u n i ty (th o u g h a v o id i n g alw ay s any incom prehensible e x a g g e ra tio n ), th e h arm onising of c o lo u rs , th e p u r i f i c a t i o n o f l i n e , th e avoidance of f o r m a l b a n a l i t y , t h e w h o le work p r o d u c i n g a s t r i k i n g and m em orable e f f e c t by r e a s o n o f i t s o r i g i n a l i t y and charm — t h i s i s t h e f u t u r e . 6 S i n c e t h e A m e ric a n p o s t e r h a s a lw a y s b e e n m ore o f a s t o r y ­ t e l l i n g medium t h a n h a s t h e

p u rely d e c o ra tiv e and o fte n

6 T,Guy D e p i e r e , F a m o u s B e l g i a n C o m m e r c i a l A r t i s t , S u g g ests I n t e r n a ti o n a l S t y l e C o m m e r c i a l A rt and In d u s try , 1 7 :2 5 0 , D ecem ber, 1 9 3 5 .

101 a b s t r a c t d e sig n s o f E urope, th is w riter, w ill

i t w ill be,

m a n y y e a r s b e f o r e a common i n t e r n a t i o n a l

be r e a l i z e d .

How ever,

designed

c o u n tr y and t o g iv e e x p r e s s i o n o f i t s u s e i s made o f c o l o r s

su itab le

to

th a t c o u n try .

i m p r e s s i o n made upon t h e v i s i t o r ,

in te rest and to

" lo c a l" o n ly .

to r e p r e s e n t

Added t o

to r e c a l l th e g en eral

and th e

in th e w o rld .

T his s t y l e

resu ltin g

p o ster is

Ho l o n g e r i s

th e

a p p lie s to o th e r prod u cts

o th e r types o f a d v e r tis in g m a te r ia l. As o n e o f t h e m o s t e f f i c i e n t

in d u stry

u n d e r m odern c o n d i t i o n s ,

p o ster a r t

w i l l alw ay s e x i s t .

m ent th e p o s te r I s l i t e r a l l y

t o s e r v e m odern

p o ste r a d v e rtisin g and

In in

to o ls

sp ite

its

of i t s

v e rie st

g re a t dev elo p ­

in fan cy .

effectiv en ess

c a n b e i n c r e a s e d many f o l d .

a r t w il l tak e

in t h e f u t u r e none o f us can f o r e s e e ,

Its

What f o r m p o s t e r b u t from

t h e p r o g r e s s m a d e i n t h e l a s t f o r t y y e a r s we d o k n o w i t and w i l l

be i n c r e a s i n g l y a f o r c e o f i n c a l c u l a b l e

i n d u s t r y and commerce, and a so u rc e o f l a s t i n g liv e s to progress, itse lf

a

p a r t i c u l a r " a tm o s p h e r e ,"

a r e a f e w s u m m ary l i n e s s u f f i c i e n t

u n d e rsto o d in any c o u n try

sty le

th e ten d en cy i s tow ard su ch a

s t y l e when, f o r exam ple, a p o s t e r i s

th is

in th e o p in io n o f

an a s s e t to p rid e to

its

is

v alu e to

com m unity a n d n a t i o n ,

t h e m en w h o h a v e g i v e n t h e i r

t h e m odern d e v elo p m e n t of t h i s

an cien t

aid to

w h ic h a f t e r s e r v i n g w e l l t h r o u g h many a g e s , f i n d s

ag ain

in step w ith th e w o rld .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY A.

BOOKS

A g n e w , Hugh E . , O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g * New Y o r k : M c G r a w - H i l l Bo o k C o m p a n y , I n c . , 1 9 3 8 . 2 9 3 PP* B radshaw , P e r c y V ., A r t i n A d v e r t i s i n g . A rt S c h o o l, n . d . 496~pp •

London:

The P r e s s

C h e n e y , S h e l d o n , a n d M a r t h a C a n d l e r C h e n e y , A r t and t h e M a c h i n e . New Y o r k : W h i t t l e s l e y H o u s e , M c G r a w - H i l l B o o k C om p an y , 1 9 3 6 . 30 7 pp* G re e r, C a rl R ic h a rd , A d v e r tis in g and I t s M echanical P ro d u c­ t i o n . New Y o r k : T h o m a s Y . C r o w e l l C o m p a n y , 1 9 3 1 * 474 pp H a r r i n g t o n , B u r t o n , The E s s e n t i a l s A d v ertisin g A sso c ia tio n , I n c .,

o f P o s te r D esig n . P o s te r U. S . A . , 1925* 1 3 3 PP*

H y m ers, R o b e r t E . , an d L e o n a r d S h a r p e , The T e c h n iq u e and P r a c t i c e o f A d v e r t i s i n g A r t . New Y o r k : P i t t m a n P u b l i s h ­ in g C o rp o ratio n , 1940. 3 1 4 PP* J o n e s , Sidney R . , A rt an d P u b l i c i t y . L t d . , 1925* 172 p p .

L ondon: The S t u d i o ,

, P o s te rs and T h eir D esign ers. L td ., 1924. 150 p p .

London:

The S t u d i o ,

K a u f f e r , E . M c K n ig h t, e d i t o r , The A r t of t h e P o s t e r . C e c i l P a lm e r , 1924* 190 pp. L a r n e d , W. L i v i n g s t o n , I l l u s t r a t i o n M c G r a w - H ill Book Company, I n c . ,

in A dvert i s i n g . 1925321 p p .

London: New Y o r k

L i p p i n c o t t , W i l m o t , O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g . New Y o r k : McGrawH i l l Book Company, I n c . , 1923* 340 p p . M e r c e r , P . A . a n d W. G a u n t , e d i t o r s M o d e r n P u b l i c i t y 1 9 3 3 1934* L o n d o n : The S t u d i o L i m i t e d l l 2 4 PP* _________ , M o d e r n P u b l i c i t y 1 9 3 5 - 1 9 3 6 . L im ited . 127 p p .

L o n d o n : The S t u d i o

_________ , M o d e r n P u b l i c i t y 1 9 3 8 - 1 9 3 9 * L im ite d . 144 pp.

London:

The S t u d i o

104 M e r c e r , F . A . a n d W. G a u n t , e d i t o r s , M o d e r n P u b l i c i t y 1 9 3 9 1 9 4 0 * L o n d o n : The S t u d i o L i m i t e d . 1 4 4 PP* _________ , P o s t e r s a n d P u b l i c i t y 1 9 2 8 * Edwin R udge. 1 6 3 pp *

New Y o r k : W i l l i a m

O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g — T he M o d e r n M a r k e t i n g F o r c e . O utdoor A d v e r ti s in g A s s o c ia t io n o f A m erica, I n c . , 1928. 2 2 7 PP* P e n n e l l , J o s e p h , L i b e r t y Loan P o s t e r . 'P h i l a d e l p h i a : L i p p i n c o t t Company, 1 9 1 8 . P o lla rd , P e rc iv a l, P o sters R u s s e l l and Son, 1 8 9 6 .

in M in iatu re . Illu stra te d .

New Y o r k :

J.

B.

R. H .

P r e s b r e y , F r a n k , The H i s t o r y a n d D e v e lo p m e n t o f A d v e r t i s i n g . G a r d e n C i t y , New Y o r k : D o u b l e d a y , D o r a n a n d C o m p a n y , I n c . , 1929* 642 p p . P u r v i s , Tom, P o s t e r P r o g r e s s . n . d . , 128 pp.

London:

The S t u d i o L i m i t e d ,

Richm ond, L e o n a r d , e d i t o r , The T e c h n iq u e o f t h e P o s t e r . London: S i r I s a a c P itm a n and S ons, L t d . , 1933* 2 0 7 PP* Young, F r a n k H ., Modern A d v e r t i s i n g A r t . F ried e, In c ., 1930. 1 9 9 PP* B.

New Y o r k :

C oviche,

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

A l e x a n d r i a , R a y , ,fM a u r i c e L o g a n a n d C o l o r A r t , " T h e P o s t e r , 2 0 :1 6 - 1 9 , A u g u st, 1929* Bem ent, A l o n , " W h a t’s H a p p e n in g to A m e ric a n P o s t e r D e s i g n , " The P o s t e r , 2 0 : 2 5 - 2 7 , M a r c h , 1 9 2 9 . B r i n to n , C h r i s t i a n , " P o s t e r : P r o s p e c t and R e t r o s p e c t , " M a g a z i n e o f A r t , 3 0 : 2 8 8 - 2 9 1 , May, 1937* D o u g l a s , R u t h , "M odern C o m m e rc ia l A r t , " The P o s t e r , 2 0 : 6 - 7 , A u g u s t , 1929* Dupuy, R oger L . , 1929."

" C a s s a n d r e , " The P o s t e r , ‘

2 0 :1 2 -1 4 , M arch.

E e rk o w , H e r b e r t , "Norman R o c k w e l l , " C o m m e rc ia l A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 7 :1 2 1 -1 2 3 , S eptem ber, 1929.

105 L e i n a r d , A u g u s t a , " M a u r i c e D e l H u e — T h e A r t i s t , ,T T h e F o s t e r , 2 1 :2 6 -2 8 , Ja n u a ry , 1930. M a u e r, S a s c h a A . , "The P o s t e r i n A m e r i c a , ” A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 24:2 4 4 -2 4 5 , Ju n e , 1938. H ow land, S t a n l e y , " M a s t e r s o f t h e P o s t e r — E dw ard P e n f i e l d a n d W i l l H. B r a d l e y , " C o m m e rcia l A r t and I n d u s t r y , 1 6 : 3 4 35, J a n u a r y , 1934* _________ , " M a s t e r s o f t h e P o s t e r — S t e i n l e n , " and I n d u s t r y , 1 6 :158, A p r il, 1934-

C om m ercial A rt

S t e v e n s o n , L e o n a r d G ., "M odern a n d S y m b o lic O u td o o r A d v e r­ t i s i n g D e s i g n , " A d v e r t i s i n g O u t d o o r s , 1 : 1 8 , Novem ber, 1930. " T h e r e a r e L o t s o f New W a y s , " C o m m e r c i a l A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 1 6 : 1 0 2 , M a rc h , 1934* "The T riu m p h o f C o l o r , "

The P o s t e r , 2 0 : 6 5 ,

Septem ber,

1929-

T s c h i c h o l d , J a n , "New P a t h s i n P o s t e r W o r k , " C o m m e r c i a l A r t a n d I n d u s t r y , 1 0 :2 4 2 - 2 4 7 , J u n e , 1931* C.

PUBLICATIONS OP LEARNED ORGANIZATIONS

C l a r k e , R ene, "A m erican P o s t e r A r t , " 1 7 t h A rt D i r e c t o r s A n n u a l o f A d v e r t i s i n g A r t . New Y o r k : L o n g m a n s G r e e n a n d Company, 1 9 3 8 . 173 pp. M oore, H o r a t i o B ., I l l u s t r a t i o n i n A d v e r t i s i n g . The U n i v e r s i t y o f M is s o u ri B u l l e t i n , V o l. 25, No. 27, S eptem ber 20, 1924. 35 p p . D. Agnew, H u g h E . , B rita n n ica ,

ENCYCLOPAEDIA ARTICLES

"C olour in A d v e r ti s in g ," E n cy c lo p a ed ia 1 4 th e d itio n , I , 204-105.

S t o d d a r t , A l e x a n d e r , a n d P e r c y V. B r a d s h a w , " P o s t e r , " E n cy c lo p a ed ia B r i t a n n i c a , 1 4 th e d i t i o n , X V III, 318-320.

106 E.

UHFUBLISHED MATERIALS

A s a n g e r , J . , ’’C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t i n O u t d o o r A d v e r t i s i n g . ” U n p u b lis h e d s h o r t t r e a t i s e , F e b r u a r y , 1929* 7 PP* M i l l i c a n , R i c h a r d D o n a l d , " T h e G-rowth a n d D e v e l o p m e n t o f A d v e r tis in g L ith o g ra p h y S ince 1 9 0 0 .” U npublished M a s t e r ’ s t h e s i s , The U n i v e r s i t y o f S o u th e r n C a l i f o r n i a , L o s A n g e l e s , 1941* 127 p p .

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

GLOSSARY OF TERMS A irb ru sh * to o l

The te r m a i r b r u s h

em ployed by a r t i s t s

a p p lies to

fo r sp ray in g p a in t

t h e m odern

onto a s u r f a c e

by use of com pressed a i r . A r t m ovem ent. of a r t as p rac tised p e c ia lly p ain tin g ,

A p a rtic u la r sty le by th o se

is

or in te rp re ta tio n

engaged in th e f i n e

a rts,

es­

known a s an a r t m ovem ent o r s c h o o l o f

art • B as-relief. th e

Low r e l i e f o r f o r m o f r e l i e f

d esig n or f i g u r e s

ground is

stan d out v ery s l i g h t l y

in w hich

from th e back­

b a s-relief.

G olor schem e. group o f c o lo r s

C o lo r schem e i s

used f o r a s p e c if ic

C o m p o sitio n .

a n o t h e r name f o r t h e

d esig n .

The a r r a n g e m e n t o f f o r m s a n d c o l o r s

w ith in a g iv en sp a ce h a s been c a l le d C o n v en tio n alized .

co m p o sitio n .

A d e sig n t h a t h as been s im p lif ie d

a n d b a s e d on g e o m e t r i c f o r m s may b e s a i d

t o be c o n v e n t i o n a l ­

ized . C ubism . of th e c u b ists, to

The t e r m c u b is m h a s b e e n a p p l i e d who b e l i e v e

sim ple g e o m e tric

shapes,

th at a l l

o b jects

e sp ecially

th e y deny any r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f n a tu r e D adaism . ous o b je c ts d esign

is

The s c h o o l o f a r t

to e x p re s s t e x t u r e ,

kn o w n a s D a d a i s m .

to th e a r t

can be re d u c e d

th e cube.

U su ally

o r form o f d e c o r a tio n

t h a t makes u s e o f e x t r a n e

d e p th and o th e r a s p e c ts

of

110 F la t c o lo r. ing,

Hues a p p l i e d

in a re a s w ith o u t

any m odel­

and u s u a l ly w ith a t e x t u r e t h a t h a s no g l o s s ,

term ed f l a t

h as been

co lo r.

F u tu rism . d ifferen t

stag es

F u tu rism .

T his

The s c h o o l o f a r t o f movement i n t h e school o rig in a te d

th at

e x p r e s s e s many

same d e s i g n

in I t a l y

is

called

in th e t w e n t i e t h

cen tu ry . H erald ic on t h e

d esig n .

The t y p e o f d e s i g n

id eas and s ty le s

of a rt

i s known a s h e r a l d i c d e s i g n . ago f o r

royal d eco ratio n , Im p ressio n ism .

a rtists

th a t a ttem p ts

p rev alen t T h is

arm or,

th at

is

based

in t h e M id d le Ages

s t y l e was u s e d c e n t u r i e s

seals

and o th e r such w ork.

Im p ressio n ism r e f e r s to ex p ress a sin g le

to th e

school of

im p ressio n o f a

su b ject• L ith o g rap h y . tone v a lu e s tio n s o f

in to

flat

L ith o g rap h y p rin tin g

is

th e a r t

surfaces

of c o n v ertin g

from w hich re p ro d u c ­

t h e o r i g i n a l may b e m a d e i n n u m e r a b l e t i m e s .

b a s e d on t h e

fa c t th a t grease a ttr a c ts

g re a se and i s

It

is

rep e lle d

by w a t e r . M asking.

C o v erin g c e r t a i n p o r t io n s

p r e v e n t p a i n t from a d h e r in g to t h a t p a r t M edium .

Any s p e c i f i c

is

of a d esig n

to

c a l l e d m ask in g .

kin d of a d v e r tis in g ,

o r type o f

a r t w o r k , s u c h a s w a t e r c o l o r o r o i l p a i n t c a n be c a l l e d a m edium . M in iatu re p o s te r . la r g e r p o ste r is

A s m a ll copy of an o r i g i n a l l y

known a s a m i n i a t u r e

p o ster.

These a re

Ill

commonly used for magazine or indoor display. Modeling. The representation of solid forms by shad­ ing is called modeling. Monochrome. Monochrome refers to the use of one color only. Photo-engraving. design onto.a sensitized

The transferring of an original plane surface by means of photogra­

phy is termed photo-engraving. Photo-lithography. The photo-mechanical process for placing a reproduction of an original design onto a plano­ graphic printing surface without the use of handv/ork by the lithographic artist is called photo-lithography. Sans serif. Sans serif identifies the type of letter­ ingthat has no extra strokes (serifs) at

the top and bottom

of the letters. Spatter-work. Art work that employs paint spattered onto a surface, usually from a stiff brush or air gun, has the title of spatter-work. Speed medium. The poster has been termed a speed medium since it must be read quickly and easily understood at a glance.

Modern living allows no time for lengthy study

of a poster advertisement. Realism. The type of expression that attempts to portray things as they actually are is called realism. School of painting. Synonymous with art movement,

112 school of p a in tin g r e f e r s

to a d e f i n i te o r p re v a ilin g trend

of e x p re ssio n . Wood- c u t .

A w ood-cut

is

a d esign carv ed in to

a block

o f wood f o r u s e i n p r i n t i n g r e p r o d u c t i o n s o f t h e o r i g i n a l d esig n . 24- sh eet p o s t e r . tisin g

is c alled

the

The s t a n d a r d f o r m o f o u t d o o r a d v e r ­

ft2 4 - s h e e t "

p o ste r because o r ig in a lly th e

p o s t e r w a s made up o f t w e n t y - f o u r s e p a r a t e

sh eets,

inches,

to fo rm a c o m p le te

p o ster.

c o lla te d and p asted

T oday, w i t h t h e l a r g e r a n d m ore e f f i c i e n t

lith o g rap h ic for

the

tw elv e.

upon t h e p a n e l

p r e s s e s t h e number o f s e p a r a t e

2 8 b y 41

m odern

sh eets req u ire d

same o v e r a l l p o s t e r a r e a h a s b e e n r e d u c e d t o The t o t a l

size

h i g h and t w e n t y - f i v e

o f th e p o s te r panel

fe e t lo n g.

is

ten o r

tw elv e f e e t

APPENDIX B

EUROPEAN POSTERS

PLATE I

THE WOMAN IN WHITE," FRED WALECER EHGLAND, 1871

113

S id n e y R. J o n e s , P o s t e r s The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) ,

and T h e i r D e s i g n e r s (L ondon:

PLATE I I

WINE POSTER BY JU LES CHERET FRANCE, 1 8 8 0

114

P ereiv al P o llard , P o sters R . H. R u s s e l l a n d S o n , 1 8 9 6 ) .

In M in iatu re

(New Y o r k :

PLATE I I I

hLAIT PUR STERILISE/ 1 STEINLEN FRANCE, 1 8 9 5

115

E . M eK night K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r (L o n d o n : C e c i l P a l m e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 119

PLATE IV

LA REVUE BLANCHE," TOULOUSE-LAUTREC FRANCE, 1 8 9 3

116

n e n s u e lle n s o o centr a n o j par An

u c L a ffi t t e

Pa r i s

E . M eK n ig h t K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r (L o n d o n : C e c i l P a l m e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 1 1 4

PLATE V

"JEANNE D'ARC," EUGENE GRASSET FRANCE, 189 O' a

PLATE VI

POSTER BY THE BEGGARSTAFF BROTHERS ENGLAND, 1894

118

Rowntrees Elect Cocoa

E . M cK n ig h t K a u f f e r , C e c i l P a lm e r , 1 9 2 4 ) •

The A r t o f t h e F o s t e r (L o n d o n :

PLATE V II

GERMAN STYLE POSTER BY LUDWIG HOLWEIN GERMANY, TWENTIETH CENTURY

11 9

S i d n e y R. J o n e s , P o s t e r s and The i.r De sip;ne r s (L o n d o n : The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 5 3 -

AMERICAN POSTERS

PLATE V I I I

SCRIBNER' S FOR XMAS," LOUIS J. RHEAD

121

P e rc iv a l P o lla r d , P o s te r s in M in iatu re R. H. R u s s e l l a n d S o n , 1 5 9 6 ) .

(New Y o r k :

PLATE IX

BICYCLE POSTER BY WILL H. BRADLEY

P e rc iv a l P o lla r d , P o s te r s in M in iatu re R. H. R u s s e l l a n d B o n , 1 5 9 6 J .

( Nevi Y o r k

PLATE X

POSTER FOR THE CHAP BOOK BY WILL H. BRADLEY

123

T H AN K S

E . M cK nignt K a u f f e r , The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r C e c i l P a lm e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 12G ****.

(L o n d o n :

PLATE XI

EARLY POSTER FOR HARPER* S MAGAZINE BY EDWARD PENFIELD

124

E . M cK n ig h t K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , The A r t o f t h e (L o n d o n : C e c i l P a l m e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 9 5 .

P oster

PLATE X II

HARPER'S SEPTEMBER,” EDWARD PENFIELD

125

E . M cK night K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r (L ondon: C e c i l P a lm e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 1 2 2 .

PLATE X I I I

BICYCLE POSTER BY MAXFIELD PARRISH

126

“

POPJE MANUFACTUP[S’C co. Ha r t f o r d , I

CONN»

i

P e r c l v a l P o l l a r d , P o s t e r s .in M i n i a t u r e R . H. R u s s e l l a n d S o n , 1 ^ 9 6 ] .

(New Y o r k :

PLATE XIV

NEWSSTAND POSTER BY J . C . LEYENDECKER

127

S i d n e y R . J o n e s , P o s t e r s and T h e i r D e s i g n e r s (L o n d o n : The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ^ , p . ' T ^ T .

PLATE XV

NEWARK* S PRIZE POSTER BY ADOLPH TRE IDLER

128

S i d n e y R. J o n e s , P o s t s r s and T h e l r D e a l r o e r a (L o n d o n : The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 1 3 7 .

PLATE XVI

TYPICAL LIBERTY BOND POSTER OF WORLD WAR

129

CHUBEEJ^ DIE A N B MOTHERS PJLEA1* VMM

m

S i d n e y R . J o n e s , P o s t e r s and T h e i r D e s i g n e r s (L o n d o n : The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) .

PLATE XVII

"VICTORY HALL," CHARLES B. FALLS

130

VICTORY* HALL IN -M EM O R Y -O F* THOSE

W H O -D E F E H D E 1 ) - LIBERTY JOIN-WOW-ONLY-ONE-DOLLAR^ v ? * H n CER1 IFI< ATI J BUTTOV-W 1M-HE B £ l f V E tllO

F O P *• H IC H MEM]

ON E‘MILLI( N-MEAA 1 fir S 3Y-NOV1 1?

VICTORY-HALL .\sso I■I ON 4 'EAST 4l* T N E W ’ TOPK

S i d n e y R . J o n e s , P o s t e r s and Th e i r The S t u d i o , L t d . , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 1 3 5 .

D es i g n e r s (L o n d o n :

PLATE XVIII

WOOD-GXJT POSTER BY P. G. COOPER

131

(ffA tfl

AMERICAS TRI8UTE T O BRITAIN

E . M cX n ig h t K a u f f e r , e d i t o r , The A r t o f t h e P o s t e r ( London: C e o i l P a l m e r , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . N * .

PLATE X IX

"RINGING- OUT L IB E R T Y ," N. C . WYETH

132

RINGING OUT LIBERTY

e/c

fu

8.1778P. H IL A D EL PH IA

HOME Q M Y o f t b e PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD

L e o n a r d R i c h m o n d , e d i t o r , The T e c h n i q u e o f t h e P o s t e r ( L o n d o n : S i r I s a a c P i t m a n a n d S o n s , L t d . , 19^^✓ > P l a t e X V I I .

PLATE XX

POSTER SHOWING- GERMAN STYLE INFLUENCE BY EDWARD PENFIELD

133

A Philadelphia Light I

S i d n e y R . J o n a s , P o s t e r s and T h e i r De s i g n e r s (L o n d o n : The S t u d i o , L t d , , 1 9 2 4 ) , p . 9 3 .

PLATE XXI

ABRAHAM LINCOLN," CHARLES B. FALLS

124

READ

ABRAHAM L INCOLN The m