Jul 20, 2019 | Poster History, Poster of the Day
Fifty years ago today the race to the moon culminated with the landing of the Apollo spacecraft and man’s first walk on the moon the following day. Here are a few original posters from our Space Race archives:
Apple. Think different. 1997
This Apple poster was part of an advertising campaign that commemorated daring dreams that changed the world, from Einstein and Picasso to man’s first walk on the moon in 1969.
Anonymous, Let’s Conquer Space! , 1960
The Soviet Union set off the Space Race in 1957 with the successful launch into orbit of Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite. The Soviet program took a major leap forward in April of 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the earth. This poster, which shows a cosmonaut at the controls of his space capsule in front of a moon-filled window, was designed before his successful mission.
The Soviet’s success also spurred the United States, which had experienced a number of failures in its early space ventures, into action. A month after Gagarin’s success, President Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University that called for the United States to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Sokolov and Leonov, Glory to the Explorers of Space! 1971
This stunningly beautiful poster celebrates the launch of the first space station, Salyut 1, to orbit the earth by the Russians in 1971. It was launched a full two years before the United States’ Skylab and marked a triumph for the Soviet Union after its inability to beat the US to the moon.
The effort continues to bear fruit as a foundation of the international space station program. The Outer Space Treaty was signed by the US, Soviet Union and Great Britain in 1967 to ensure the peaceful use of space and has now been signed by 109 nations. In the 21st century, a new space race is underway, with several nations taking part, the most ambitious being China and the United States.
Nov 2, 2016 | Poster History
For Full Employment After the War – Register to Vote – CIO Political Action Committee by Ben Shahn, 1944
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was created in 1938 after its split from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The main difference was a focus on industry-wide organizing rather than by craft.
In 1943, the CIO formed its Political Action Committee, the very first PAC. Its agenda: the reelection of Franklin Roosevelt, and they wisely hired leading social activist Ben Shahn as its head artist. This famous poster powerfully captured that effort, with two welders seemingly looking into the uncertain future. The poster also addressed the Administration’s efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in war industries, in contrast to the more segregated approach of the AFL.
Shahn’s CIO posters are quite rare; this is a particularly fine specimen.
Warning! Inflation means Depression – Register, Vote by Ben Shahn, 1946
Shahn’s 1946 poster of a Depression era farmer served as a reminder that rampant post-war inflation could plunge the country into a new era of hard times. Once again, his posters promoted voter registration as a key to making sure that a Democratic victory would yield the vigorous program to overcome this danger. Shahn made several strong designs for the CIO in 1946, his last year for his work there.
A good man is hard to find / Progressive Party by Ben Shahn, 1948
Two years later, Shahn’s growing disenchantment with the major parties ripened into his full-fledged support of the Progressive Party. Here, Shahn’s frustration results in a bitingly sarcastic view of Truman and Dewey, the major party candidates, playing on the piano and singing along to “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.
Jul 16, 2016 | Gallery News
Bermuda – 5 Hours by Air PAA by Adolph Treidler (1937)
International Poster Gallery proudly presents “Summer Getaway! 22nd Annual Summer Poster Show,” including more than 50 original vintage travel and leisure posters from near and far, plus a new discovery of 30 rarely-seen airline posters. This exhibition runs from July 5 – September 5, 2016.
Inspiring wanderlust in the viewer, our travel posters cover locations from Bermuda to Norway and joyously highlight the different aspects of travel. The late Thirties headliner, Bermuda – 5 Hours by Air – PAA by Adolph Treidler pictures a handsome young couple heading out on their bicycles under a star-filled sky. Overhead, a Pan Am flying boat is silhouetted by a full moon.
In contrast to the calm, enchanted world depicted by Treidler, David Klein captures the excitement and energy of the Hollywood Bowl in his vibrant Los Angeles – Fly TWA poster:
Los Angeles – Fly TWA by David Klein (circa 1959)
Next up in the exhibition are summer sport posters, including Otto von Hanno’s charming 1930s Summer in Norway poster of sail boats playing cat and mouse amongst the fjords and the 1936 Art Deco Australia Surf Club by Gert Sellheim. Von Hanno and Sellheim instill their posters with a sense of adventure and beauty.
Summer in Norway by Otto von Hanno (circa 1930)
Australia Surf Club by Gert Sellheim (1936)
The show concludes with psychedelic Rock & Roll posters from the Fillmore Auditorium and beautiful post-war jazz festival posters from Willisau, Switzerland. Posters took on a psychedelic edge in the 1960s when artist Wes Wilson, departing from the neat, functional typography of the 1950s, turned to bubble lettering and bright, clashing colors to advertise rock concerts in the Bay Area. Billy Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium became the proving ground for a pulsating drug-induced style of poster art.
The exhibition includes this Rick Griffin/Victor Moscoso rarity for a Jimi Hendrix concert at the Winterland. It unabashedly blends Egyptian iconography, Gothic lettering and comic book graphics into a playfully surrealistic vision.
Jimi Hendrix at Winterland by Rick Griffin and Victor Moscoso (1968)
“As always, our 22nd Summer Show is full of fun combined with great design. The energy of Mid-Century Modernism is front and center,” states Gallery owner Jim Lapides, a nationally recognized authority on vintage posters and poster collecting. “Many of these are avidly sought by museums today and are still very affordable to beginning collectors.”
View more posters from the exhibition on our website.
Apr 23, 2016 | Poster History
Just in time for graduation! We have two handsome original 12 x 18 inch lithographic prints from 1909. They are from a series of designs for all the members of the Ivy League, but to date only Yale and Princeton have surfaced.
Til Life’s Sun is Set… (Yale print) by Abigail Kellogg Hazard (1909)
This print features Yale’s lovable bulldog mascot, Handsome Dan. Adorned in a Yale Blue ribbon, Dan is surrounded by a snippet of Yale’s school song.
While the Tiger Stands De-Fender… (Princeton print)
by Abigail Kellogg Hazard (1909)
Although its mascot was initially the lion, the tiger grew in popularity at Princeton due to its inclusion in the fight song “The Orange and the Black”. In 1911, Woodrow Wilson’s graduating class replaced their previous graduation gift of statues of lions with statues of tigers. When Princeton became co-educational in 1969, female tiger statues were included for the first time.
Here is the original advertisement for this poster from the June 15, 1910 copy of The Princeton Alumni Weekly:
START RIGHT- AND WRITE AWAY!!!
For the New Princeton Posters
Price positively restricted to $1.00 each. Mail orders. Size 12 x 18. Designed, published, controlled by Miss Abigail Kellogg Hazard, 702 Newark Ave., Elizabeth, N.J. Original, artistic, symbolic, expressive of true college sentiment. In color. Tiger head conspicuous. Motto from the song “The Orange and the Black.” Also Princeton seal.
Mar 23, 2016 | Poster History
One of our most unique recent discoveries, this handsome calendar was printed for RR Donnelley & Sons, a Chicago-based company specializing in printing, binding, designing and engraving. Each month features a robust American sportsperson, absorbed in the sport of the season.
The calendar was designed by Harry Cimino, a successful and highly skilled Chicago wood engraver. Cimino expertly renders his figures in simple, clean lines, making them pop from the background. Each 21.8″ x 39″ exquisitely printed calendar page was designed to be hung on the wall – often in the offices of Donnelley’s clients. Note too the graphics placed in the blank days of the month – clearly Cimino had fun with his assignment.
View the entire series here.
