Poster Mystery #1 – How did a department store in Italy start selling iPads in 1904?
| Leopoldo Metlicovitz, E. & A. Mele & Ci., 1904 |
Wishing you and yours a happy, prosperous 2013!
We love the simplicity and winter whimsy of this Mid-Century Swiss poster. The price – just $375 – makes it twice as nice and perhaps the perfect holiday gift for the design lover on your list.
Looking for even more gift giving inspiration? Visit our Tumblr gift guide, where we’re posting ideas under $1000 daily throughout the holidays.
Do you have Winter Wanderlust?
Vintage posters for exotic vacation destinations and a selection of general works are on display at International Poster Gallery just in time for the holidays! From the sun-drenched French Riviera to the icy peaks of the Alps, there’s something for everyone in the gallery’s 19th annual holiday poster exhibition.
Winter Wanderlust is free and open to the public, and is on view December 1 – January 30 at our Newbury Street Gallery. We hope to see you there!
Artist Unknown, "Let Us Be Thankful!" (Mather Work Incentive), 1929
Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving from Interntional Poster Gallery!
| View all Mather Work Incentive posters here. |
International Poster Gallery wishes to express its deep concern for all of those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Our thoughts are with you in the days and weeks of rebuilding ahead.
To show our support, 10% of the proceeds* from gallery-owned merchandise purchased from now until next Tuesday, November 6th will be donated to the American Red Cross Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Fund.
*For consigned items, 10% of the gallery’s commission will be donated. This cannot be combined with other offers.
View all Red Cross posters here.
The liberation of fashion in the early Sixties is clear in this vibrant poster by leading Swiss poster artist Fritz Buhler. His poster for a Basel clothier’s 40th anniversary is emphatic in announcing a new age of bold patterns and technicolor tones, a rich symphony of shapes and color that would go fully psychedelic three years later during the Summer of Love. But for now, the grace and elegance of Jackie Kennedy is still strongly present, making this a true Mad Men “Swinging Sixties” fashion statement. The color is not to be believed!
The Merrent has quickly become a staff favorite and is currently on display in the gallery’s Mid-Century Modern exhibit: Global Persuasion.
Looking for some Halloween inspiration? We’ve gathered together some of our favorite scary posters over on Pinterest. From Cappiello’s ghouls and goblins to sophisticated masquerade balls, there’s something for everyone!
D. Ambrose, Vespa - Ca c'est formidable, c. 1955
In 1955, the high-energy French actor and singer Gilbert Becaud released the hit song titled C’est Formidable! (That’s Great!). It was a perfect marketing opportunity for Vespa to create a hip poster campaign. The poster shows the singer nimbly mounting the scooter as if it were a skateboard (a recently minted pastime itself, at the publication of this poster). The background was equally hip, with Vespa’s patented pastel colors in asymmetrical, intersecting shapes that echo Mid-Century furniture design. Fantastique!
Vespa, or Wasp in English, was named in 1946 for its narrow waist, high-pitched engine and antenna-like handlebar. The product was perfectly suited for the war-torn country, where consumer budgets and poor roads made larger vehicles impractical.
In 1952, the vehicle’s popularity skyrocketed when Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck teamed up on a Vespa in Roman Holiday. By 1956, 1 million Vespas had been sold. The Vespa survives today as one of the most fun products on two wheels.
This poster is available in two sizes.
This stunning poster, a classic of the International Typographic, or Swiss Style, was selected as a Swiss Poster of the Year award winner in 1963. Strongly relying on typographic elements, the “Swiss Style” was refined in the ’50s and ’60s at two design schools, one in Basel led by Armin Hofmann and the other in Zurich under Josef Muller-Brockmann. Both had studied at the Zurich School of Design before WWII, where they absorbed the modernist principles of the Bauhaus and Jan Tschichold’s New Typography.
Hofmann’s posters express a graphic purity rarely seen in any medium. Restricting his palette to primarily black and white (and sometimes a third color), Hofmann used a mathematical grid to provide a unified and orderly structure. Hand illustration disappeared, replaced by black and white studio photography, while traditional typefaces were replaced by clean and straightforward sans serif styles. His poster for the opera William Tell is remarkable for its modern yet tension filled treatment that uses type to portray the arrow that whizzes toward the precariously balanced apple.
While collected by art and design museums throughout the world, Hofmann’s posters remain surprisingly affordable – with prices starting at just a few hundred dollars. To view the Gallery’s extensive collection of his work, click here.
