Hollywood Cliche’s

More articles by Otto Buj.  American; French; Polish

“Overcooked cliches for movie posters have been served up by Hollywood admen since the silent era. Pressured to appeal to as many potential ticket buyers as possible, studio posters played it safe by blowing up the head of a bankable celebrity or spotlighting a signature moment of romance or action. For that reason, the history of American poster design is dominated by endless tiresome formulas.”  From Otto Buj’s article Buy American, linked above.

French film poster design suffered a similar fate. Cinema was considered entertainment for the lower class in France and so the high poster art tradition of Lautrec and Cheret was reserved only for operas, cabarets and music halls. By the French point of view, only a safe and literal approach to film marketing would be understood by the lower classes.

Polish designers, on the other hand, rejected state imposed social-realism and drew upon the dark and obsessive tradition of Polish Romanticism. Poland enjoyed a “golden age of movie-poster design” from the 50’s to the mid 70’s. 

For your consideration I present this 1963 Polish film poster for Hitchcock’s The Birds, designed by  Bronislaw Zelek. Notice the complete absence of celebrity cameos.

Where it all began.

A documentary about the Gutenberg press that I really enjoyed. This film provides great insight into the history of print and the painstaking process of printing. Without Gutenberg’s invention, poster art and the history of illustration would not exist.  Watch the other five parts on Youtube. 

Some contextual chronology:

Woodblock prints date back as early as 200CE

Intaglio first attempted in 1430 but not perfected until Rembrandt’s time in the 17th century.

Gutenberg Press begins production in 1450’s and is modified and improved rapidly. More complex and efficient presses are produced constantly.

Lithography invented in 1796.

Photography 1839, photomontage became a popular tool of artists and poster designers in the early 1900’s.

Offset presses in 1903.

Screenprinting, though dating back to the 10th century in the East, and used industrially and by artists in the 19th century, it did not become the cornerstone of the DIY poster artist until Warhol popularized it in the 1960’s.

 

Film Posters in Poland and the West

The film poster has a unique place in the poster genre because unlike posters for shows or books or destinations which generally had one poster plastered in the near geography of an event, films traveled and got new posters for each region and language they were shown in. Also, film posters were not collected like other posters because they were controlled by the distributors and loaned exclusively to theatres. After a showing, the posters were either destroyed or returned to the distributor for recirculation. Today, however, film posters are highly sought after by collectors and luckily for them, many distributors held on to the posters rather than destroy them.

After WWII, Polish designers were some of the most prolific and innovative in the genre. Their western European and American counterparts had rigid views of film poster design–views which usually involed bombastic taglines and over-the-top dramatic poses of celebrities themselves. In Poland, however, there were no Hollywood pundits directing the poster design. Rather, Polish artists rejected state-imposed social realism and enjoyed free artistic license under the communist regime so long as their work was not politically objectionable.. They drew influence from soviet constructivism and photomontage. The artists employed the skills they perfected as realists to create stunning designs that were far more conceptual than the celebrity-portraits of American posters. Polish posters often seem cryptic to any viewer not familiar with the film itself.

Follow the link for a pdf of source article. Plastered by Otto Buj

Plastered

Chronology of Poster Art + Point of View Reflections

printmaking

woodcut> intaglio> color lithography> technology huge impact on poster art

color litho- all printing and non-printing layers are at same level (unlike relief and intaglio); based on repellence of oil & water

litho invented 1798, almost immediate attempts to use color by running plate for each color, registration made difficult

peak usage between affordable production cost 1880’s to availability of photography in beginning of 20th cent.

University of Delaware Library, Special Collections

http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/color/lithogr.htm

last modified 5/5/09

American posters- highly collectable since posters were being produced- limited ed. poster books “The Modern Poster” (1895) 1000 editioned, reinforced craze

American posters publicized books; posters began outselling books they were advertising> no longer produced

Read the Sun poster (for the Sun Newspaper) Louis J. Read

poster parties

advertised bicycles, food and wine, cafes and restaurants, cabaret and circus

many talented women poster artists in golden age of poster, but male dominated artform bc of women’s position in society at time

Ethel Reed, Florence Lundborg, Evelyn Rumsey Cary

sexist essay about Ethel Reed in The Poster November, 1898 “women have no orginiality of thought, and that literature and music have no feminine character, but surely women know how to observe, and what they se is quite different from that which men see, and the art which they put in their gestures in their dresses, in the decoration of their environment, is sufficient to give us the idea of an instinctive and peculiar genius which each of them possesses

coincided with rising popularity of magazines- The Century, Scriber’s, Harper’s Weekly

Maxfield Parish, Edward Penfield

Point of View-

consistent theme throughout poster illustration is the use of poster to advertise book, music, theater, lifestyle media. Embraced by middle class bc both were available and affordable to them in large quantity. More disposable income for leisure activities like reading and theater-going. Posters had low production costs, which made mass production possible. Paris poster artists of late 19th century took the gallery from the Academie to the streets with large scale, colorful reproductions widely available and free. People could collect beautiful imagery like never before.

Rebelled against Academie- seedy subject matter vs. classical painting subjects

reproducible image w print material vs. one-of-a-kind painting with traditional material

public, middle-class audience; wide exposure vs. Academie, art-critic, & high art inner circle; exclusive exposure

flat imagery, simplified line, bold color, abstract/modified shape vs. traditional painting techniques (form, perspective, local color usage, composition)

incorporation of text w/ imagery vs. no text

Cafe life- Toulouse-Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh, : all contemporaries of eachother, hung out in cafes and created art (alternative to formal Academie)

drew eachother> they appear in eachother’s work

P.O.V.- Toulouse-Lautrec & Cafe Life

Went out into world he fit into bc of his situation (aristocrat+handicapped> underground cabaret & cafe scene)

prostitutes & brothels- only relationships he had, respected them & depicted their life> prostitution in 1890’s was at its peak; common stage in woman’s life to be prostitute at time & place

captured his surroundings & contributed to thriving theater scene bc of illustrations; fueled image of bruant, avril, etc

immersed in culture, observed, depicted, and propelled his scene

TL an example being where and as you are supposed to be at the right time- artists fate

technology, social changes

filters through which you look at through topic

poster emulates, epitomizes era- social issues, there whether you like it or not; documenting history- very time

>propaganda- war posters

>entertainment- music, lifestyle, theater

pierre bonnard

GROVE ART ONLINE

Poster.

The origins of the poster can be traced back to the early playbills and other typographical announcements that were pasted on walls indiscriminately to attract the public’s attention.

used thick and varied lettering creatively> visual impact

mall French handbill of 1800 with illustration and lettering advertising Bonne Bièrre de Mars (see Abdy, p. 6) may be regarded as one of the forerunners of the poster

large-scale signboards that appear in a print of 1721 of St Bartholomew’s Fair, London (London, Guildhall), also anticipate modern street advertising

1761 an edict issued in France by Louis XV ordered that similar boards should be fixed to walls for safety, thus in a sense creating the billboard

directly from lithographic designs in journals and magazines executed by professional illustrators

France, from 1834, Paul Gavarni worked for the periodical Le Charivari producing a number of lively, popular illustrations that attracted the notice of artists and public alike

J.-J. Grandville Les Metamorphoses du jour (Paris, 1829)>antecedent of much of the Surrealist-inspired poster art of the 1930s and 1950s; Grandville’s use of bizarre humour was an early contribution to the content and imagery of popular posters in the 19th century, where word-play and whimsy were frequent factors

Edouard Manet, however, who produced the most quoted link between the book-page advertisement and the broad style of poster imagery with his poster for the illustrated edition of Champfleury’s Les Chats (1868; New York, MOMA) The design incorporates typography with a small lithographed illustration of cats on a rooftop, executed in flat, simplified shapes derived from Japanese print

influence of prints become source for Art Nouveau

Lautrec’s slightly disturbing but original style earned him the reputation of being probably the best-known poster artist of all time. An important aspect of his contribution to the history of the poster was his reduction of form to flat, simple pattern in a small range of strong colours, making the designs powerful enough to withstand reproduction on cheap paper and to be highly memorable

by 1890’s Art Nouveau became element of posters> Eugene Grasset Salon des Cent: Exposition (1894; New York, MOMA) – depicts girl’s head & hand holding a flower, heavy outline (reminiscent of stained glass; Alphonse Mucha of Bohemia, decorative, all posters for Sarah Bernhardt + her costumes & decor for productions

American- economic woodblock, huge scale; cruder in concept than contemporary european posters. Grasset visited & influenced US style> Edward Penfield– Harper’s & Collier’s; The Chap Book Thanksgiving Number one of most popular posters

Fred Walker wood-engraved, b&w poster 1871 for The Woman in White (New York, MOMA)

“Beggarstaff Brothers”- William Nicholson & James Pryde– limited ed. woodcut & lithography posters, flat colours & massed forms, Girl on a Sofa- reproduced in German magazine 1914, interest to designers in Germany; Tom Purvis (1920’s & 30’s)

Britain- mostly concerned w humorous versions of the best work in Paris; John Hassall (1868-1948) Dudley Hardy

In Belgium there were a number of artists who designed original posters. They included Henri Meunier (1873–1922), Victor Mignot (1872–1944) and Privat-Livemont (1861–1936). Although their styles were highly individual, there is a common element of accurate draughtsmanship linked to ideas derived from the Symbolist movement that distinguishes work in both Belgium and the Netherlands from much of the work in Paris.

Leonetto Capiello, an artist of Italian origin who worked in Paris, brought a new concept to poster design relying on a single motif placed against a plain background, for example in his Chocolat Klaus (1903)

Among the many other German artists who produced outstanding posters were Julius Klinger (1876–1950), Paul Scheurich (1883–1945), Julius Gipkens (b 1883), Peter Behrens and Hans Rudi Erdt (1883–1918).

During World War I posters were produced by the countries involved not only for recruitment or for soliciting support for War Loans but also for protest. Käthe Kollwitz in Germany and Jules Abel Faivre (1867–1945) in France; Alfred Leete (1882–1933) in England and Montgomery Flagg (1877–1960) in the USA; Howard Chandler Christy (1873–1952)

P.O.V.> Propaganda Art

Immediacy of imagery with straightforward text effectively influences mass culture’s opinion (supporting or against); wide exposure possible bc of low production costs; also large scale overwhelms a viewer, aggressive gesture (pointing finger of dominating figure, Uncle Sam)- more susceptible to message

(Grove Art cont’d)

use of photography shifted the emphasis from the hand-drawn imagery and lettering of the painter–printmaker to the sophisticated graphic language of the designer; Cubism easily assimilated by designers

Art Deco in French poster design– decorative treatment of images and angular patterns; Georges Lepape (1887-1971) fashion posters

images memorable underlines the importance of the poster in its position midway between art and the market place

In between wars; Travel Posters: McKnight Kauffer – best work between wars; travel posters encouraged urban traveller to leave city & served to decorate tunnels and passages; Railway companies & shipping lines in Britain- extensive patronage of work of these and other poster artists

in Switzerland, where Otto Baumberger (1889–1961) and Niklaus Stoecklin (1896–1982), together with Max Bill (e.g. poster for Olympic Games, Munich, 1972; London, V&A), were among those who fused formal, abstracted elements and typography into precise designs, heralding the rise of the professional graphic designer

Posters 1940-1964

During World War II poster designers were forced to compete with cinema and the radio as a means of spreading propaganda. However, the development of photography and photomontage over the previous decades had given new shape to poster design

The extent to which posters were used during wartime proved their unsurpassed value as instruments of direct and powerful communication.

Consumer and travel posters were replaced by instructional posters that urged the public to conserve energy, grow more food or guard the terrain and the secrets of the respective countries. Posters made under the Nazis depicted Nazi leaders and policies in a favourable light to the inhabitants of the occupied countries; here the message was often more significant than the merit of the design.

Jean Carlu used his skill with simplified forms in America’s Answer—Production (1941; New York, MOMA)

In the USSR, among a prolific output of propaganda posters, the work of the Kukryniksy group—Mikail Kupriyanov, Porfiry Krylov and Nikolai Sokolov—added to the stirring character of Soviet poster design

In 1944 Paul Colin celebrated the re-emergence of France with a dramatic painting that was issued as a poster entitled Libération, with the personified image of France standing this time not among the barricades (as in Revolutionary times) but among her ruined cities.

20 years following the end of World War II, several factors affected poster design throughout the world

international approach to design developed-Many European designers had moved to the USA, where the rise of a professional advertising body created a market for designers’ work

style- Cubist & Bauhaus theory gave way to Surrealism; humour sought in advertising after stress of war

Swiss magazine Graphis– focal point for GD world

Donald Brun (b 1909), Swiss, Gauloises (1965; priv. col., see Barnicoat, p. 114) – sharp, geometric forms and strong, clear colours, printed immaculately against a black ground

Raymond Savignac (b 1907) and Herbert Leupin (b 1916) both exploited an element of comedy in their posters

From 1965

1965 the University of California at Berkeley became the focus of the psychedelic posters of the hippy movement; these graphics of protest, which were an affirmation of a new youthful lifestyle, coincided with an exhibition of Jugendstil and Expressionist posters at Berkeley

Victor Moscoso’s Young Bloods (1967), Bob Masse’s Kitsilano Theatre, Vancouver (1968) or Robert McClay’s Funky Features (1968) and Bob Schnepf’s Avalon Ballroom (1967)

Michael English (b 1939) (British)

new ideas that challenged the established standards of poster design:

rise of the Polish cinema and theatre poster- violent and brilliantly inventive imagery, executed in bright colours- Jan Lenica’s (b 1928) poster Wozzeck (1964; see Barnicoat, pl. 235); Waldemar Swierzy (b 1931); Franciszek Starowieyski (b 1930) made use of dramatic Surrealist imagery

Cuba- revolution inspired a forceful series of poster designs by various artists who worked for the new government through official agencies; political & cinematic; Raúl Martínez and Antonio Pérez González

Push-pin had influential role in the professional world of graphic design in the 1960s and early 1970; reintroduced a hand-drawn appearance to posters, which leant towards quotation and parody (e.g. Seymour Chwast, End Bad Breath, 1967; Seymour Chwast/Pushpin Lubalin Peckolick priv. col., see 1984–5 exh. cat., pl. 187).

The poster Dylan (1967; London, V&A) by Glaser shows a portrait of the singer Bob Dylan in silhouette with his hair depicted as a tangled mass of bright colours

many Push Pin designs inspired by Surrealism, but other imagery too

1970’s & 80’s- poster design was consolidation of what was recently avante-garde and experimental

Poster Art Heavy Hitters:

*Milton Glaser

*James McMullan

From the Postcubist Poster to the Second World War

“In the 1930s European posters reflected several trends” the postcubist synthesis; simplified and depoliticized versioa of the photoemontages of the Berlin Dadaists; and the Dadaists’ borrowings from surrealism.” p. 309

Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (Cracow 1901-1968) created a concise alternative to the Russian photomontage poster and the German Bauhaus poster.  His poster, Nord Express, shuns the Bauhaus’s importance of  typography with text that functions more as just caption.  The train is foreshortened in a very futurist fashion.

E. McKnight-Kauffer (1890-1954) was among the most interesting artist working in the Post-Cubist revival style in America.

The Bauhaus

The Bauhaus was a school that operated from 1919 to 1933 in Germany.  The school existed in three German cities (Weimer from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932 and Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different architect-directors: Walter Groipus from 1919 to 1927, Hannes Meyer from 1927 to 1930 and Ludwig Meis Van der Rowe from 1930 until 1933, when the school was closed by the Nazi regime.

“There was a certain continuity between the posters of Toulouse-Lautrec and Steinlen, but between 1920 and 1922 poster art divided into two streams: one for the masses, the other for the elite.” p. 306

There were three factors that were responsible for this split over class.  The first being the Dada Movement (1916 in Zurich, 1918 in Paris).  The second is Kasimir Malevich’s suprematism:

Example of Kasimir Malevich's Suprematism style

His style was nonobjective, flat shapes were painted straight onto the canvas.  He was connected to the creation of the Dutch artist movement “De Stijl” in 1917.

The third factor is the first Bauhaus in Weimar in 1919.  Here the “fantastic-mythic inspiration of Paul Klee and Kandinski and the structuralism of architects, poster makers, and other graphic artists” were united.

“During and immediately after the First World War, [which was] a period of crisis in poster art, the poster recieved fresh inspiration from two directions: the photomontage technique practiced by the Dadaists of Berlin, who were active from about 1917 to 1923, and the Bauhaus use of type.”

John Heartfield (1891-1968) created posters that had a large figure in the foreground and a contrast of other receding figures in dramatic perspective behind it.

John Heartfield, "Ten Years Later: Fathers and Sons," 1924

Adolf

Russian artists accepted his work as influence.  They thought that it was realism (though it was actually photo-montage).  Heartfield’s influence was strong from the 1920s until the end of WWII.  Eliezer Lissitsky was particularly influenced in his poster for a Russian exhibition at a Zurich museum in 1929

USSR, Lissitzky

“In Bauhaus posters, the inscriptions became illustrations.  The unity or words and illustration in Bauhaus work is extremely rich and complex, and by the very structure of bauhaus production, posters remained for the elite.  But in the long run Bauhaus could not help but influence the development of the poster in Europe, particularly in Switzerland after the Nazis took over Germany and the poster there returned to an academic, rhetorical realism.” p. 307

Joost Schmidt (1893-1942) exemplifies the relationship between word and image in his poster Staatliches Bauhaus Ausstelling, 1923

Walter Dexel (1890-1973) was very influential in the Bauhaus

Herbert Bayer (Austrian, 1900-1985) is one of the most influential Bauhaus designers when it comes to posters.

German Expressionism and the War Poster in the West

“The expressionist revolution was influenced by the discovery in the West of Japanese wood engravings, the revival of populist nationalism, the Jugendstil, and a certain civic-mindedness.  Expressionism—which was symbolic, emotional, sometimes violent, and always non-realistic—had a particular impact on film poster, for example the 1919 poster for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [by Stahl-Arpke]…It also greatly affected posters created during and immediately after the First World War.”

Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) was heavily influenced by painters such as Gaugin, Van Gogh, Munch, and Klimt.  He created complex posters for theatre productions and literary novels, geared towards the elite educated class.

However, he also made wartime posters (such as Neider mit dem Bolschewismus, 1919).  Wartime posters were specific to the style popular in the countries they were made.  Thus, in France and The United States they were realistic.

Toulouse-Lautrec Posters

color lithograph, 75" x 46"

Color lithograph, 1896

color lithograph, 51″ x 37″

lithograph, 55.6″ x 38.7″

“The Origins, from Cheret to Toulousse-Lautrec,” summarized.

“The Origins, from Cheret to Toulousse-Lautrec,” an excerpt from The Poster In History, p.297 by Max Gallo is here summarized:

“The development of the poster can be examined in terms of masterpieces created by renowned artists; or— and this approach is more relevant to the times—it can be examined in terms of the artistic problems presented by two characteristics peculiar to poster: the marriage of images and word, and the possibility of duplicating a given poster an infinite number of times.”

Later, the worth of posters rose with the advent of poster collectors.  First prints and artist proofs were treated like paintings.

“…there is not mush point in seeking the antecedents of the poster in the heraldic banners of Ancient Egypt or processional flags of Pompeii.  More relevant to its development are the notices and proclamations that began to appear on public walls after the invention of printing.”

In the second half of the 19th century the industrial revolution created a consumer economy.  The role of posters was to sell and persuade.

TWO MOVEMENTS:

The narratrive poster made in France by Cheret and Lautrec.

The symbolic art nouveau poster prevalent in England, Austira, and Germany.

Les Chats, 1868, Edouard Manet, was the first poster for the J. Rothschild publishing house.  This image does not truly demonstrate the rapport between word and image.  Instead it illustrates the title of the book being advertised.

Edouard Manet

“…the origin of the pictoral poster is to be found both in a new function of illustration and in the emergence of a new kind of audience.  Poster illustrations derived from the kind of public waas composed of the middle and lower-middle classes, which flocked to the boulevard theaters of Paris.”

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Lautrec and Cheret created a revolution in poster design.

Cheret (1836-1932) drew directly onto the Lithograph stone.  He created a new style that combined text and image in a unique way while concentrating on theater posters.  May have been inspired by the circus posters.

Jules Cheret

For Cheret, illustrating typography was the most important factor and what made him stand out, even when he took up artistic influence from Lautrec.  “…He came to make the words themselves into illustrations.” p. 299

Cheret’s originality was in his presentation rather than his influences (Giambattista, Giandomenico, Tiepolo, Watteau).  His work is characteristic of strong colors, bold lines, foreshortened figures in the foreground and a sketched background.  He quoted motifs from Lautrec later in his career such as a shadowy background figure and diagonal composition.

—

Lautrec (1864-1901) was inspired by Japanese woodcuts, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin.  His work had more of a vocus on the illustration and the characteristics of the figures rather than the text.  His work had characteristic flat colors and foreshortening.  Created posters for La Revue Blanche and the night club Divan Japonais.

“Toulouse-Lautrec’s genius is diverse, not because he was an ‘artist’ but because he created a synthetic, revolutionary means of telling a story that was much more advanced than that being proposed in contemporary painting.” p. 301

—

Bonnard’s posters are “rather ordinary.”

Posters by important painters the author chooses to mention: Felix Vallotton’s La Pepiniere (before 1894); Maurice Denis’ La Depeche de Toulouse (1895); Jaques Villon’s Maggie Berck (1904); and Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923).

Theophile Alexandre Steinlen is best known for Tournee du Chat Noir (1868). He is the link between Cheret and Toulouse-Lautrec.  His work was somewhat clumsy but quintessentially French without giving into the developing Art Nouveau style.

Steinlen’s posters became banal and marked the end of the “great ‘cultural’ moment of the French poster.”

Toulouse Lautrec

color lithograph, 75" x 46"

 

Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

 

from book: Scenes of the Night

born into an aristocratic family in Albi

his mother & father were first cousins, probably related to his dwarfism- weak & sickly from birth- minor falls in early life resulting in 2 broken bones that kept him from growing to full height

strained relationship with father, who was an enthusiast of sports and falconry, which Henri could not participate in bc of his handicap- father was amateur painter and draftsman

settled and worked at Montmarte, France

Montmarte:  Moulin Rouge, Mirliton, and Moulid de la Galette, Chat Noir

 

The Players: 

Aristide Braunt- singer/composer- opened cabaret Mirliton on the site of the Chat Noir founded by Roudolphe Salis that moved to larger premises

performers of Mirliton included: Nini the Tart, Rosa the Red

Braunt threatened to not perform at Theatre des Ambassadeurs if owner Pierre Ducarre did not accept Lautrec’s poster concept for show- this portrait/poster gained recognition for poster as genuine art form

middle class & aristocratic audience- thrilled to be in low company

famous painting (large scale) “Chilperic”  featured dancer Marcelle Lender

Jane Avril (Jane Avril and Divan Japonais)- intimate w in 1890; tremendous energy- nicknamed 

 

stage lighting – cast shadows of actors upward, exaggerating facial features (caricature), gestures & postures, silhouettes stood out

 

1890- peak of his career: finest of his paintings produced, best known posters, & took up lithography

 

Moulin Rouge: 1st poster done by Jules Cheret (called “The Tiepolo of double colombier” [old paper format used for papers] by critic Felix Feneon)- featured windmill “jaunty woman miller”

Lautrec commissioned to do 2nd poster by MR owner Charles Zidler. TL had different approach than Cheret- showed one of stars La Goulue dancing w audience in silhouette (inspired by shadowpuppets & Japanese Prints) & partially-silhoutted portrait of Valentin le Desosse {Lawyers son, passion for dancing} in foreground

posters all over Paris & snatched up by collectors- offensive to the Academie bc of top 

The Academie vs. Cafe Life

critic Felix Feneon in anarchist magazine Le Pere Peinard on Lautrec’s 1st Moulin Rouge Poster:

urged readers to tear the finest posters off the walls of Paris and thus “get hold of paintings with a bit more zip than the dismal daubs that look as if they’re done in licorice juice that so delight the cognoscenti arseholes.”

 

First Prints:

photography- art lovers became interested in original artists prints as opposed to engraved reproductions of paintings

Lautrec built rep for printmaking – “boldness matched by technical mastery”

 

Japanese Influence:

Kitagawa Utamaro 1753-1806), Shunsho Katsukawa (1726-92), Hokusai Katsushika (1760 – 1849)

 

(to be continued)