History of Posters
As posters have been produced for hundreds of years, the slow progression of these posters has gradually changed. The first and earliest of posters, one that was produced in 1572 featured only words but no pictures. The reason for this was because posters back then only had to carry on a message and many copies of these posters had to be re produced.
The first poster mainly just consisted of bold, capitalized black lettering, describing the main event, time and whereabouts. It was simple, to the point but also very boring. There were no images or design really featured in the poster.
In 1850, the first art posters were produced. The procedure of producing masses of posters was by using a printing method called Lithography. Lithography was invented by a man called Alois Senefelder, in the year 1793.
This use of Lithography printing meant a limitless number of posters to be produced in a great variety of colours. The word Lithography came from the Greek which literally meant 'Writing on Stone'. To create a piece of art using the Lithography method meant the process consisted of a greasy drawing on a flat stone, or specially grained metal sheet that would accept ink, and the surrounding area which would be rejected due to the fact you would have to dampen that area with water. On a direct press, the ink would be transferred straight onto the paper or poster. On an offset press, the ink would be transferred to a roller and then onto the paper.
Art Noveau was a style that was very popular towards the end of the 19th century. In Germany this style was called Jugendstil, and in Austria it was called the Secession Movement. Three designers in this Art Noveau period were Frenchman Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Englishman Aubrey Beardsley (1872 - 1898) and Czech Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1939).
Toulouse-Lautrec's poster for a 'Moulin Rouge' nightclub in Paris was one of his most successful posters. As he was one of the first artists...