History of poster design from 1880 to 1918

Inspiration, Design, All

The history of poster design entered a golden age in the late 19th century, when lithographers began to use zinc plates instead of stone plates for printing en masse. The innovation allowed them to produce several plates, each with a different coloured ink, which made it possible to closely mask colours on the same sheet of paper. Posters in different colours and sizes could be printed quickly and inexpensively. Skilled illustrators and graphic designers - such as Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret, Eugène Grasset and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, they quickly began to exploit the new technology; “The golden age of the poster” (1890s to World War I) was a spectacular result.

A collection of more than 200 historical posters from Belle Époque and early twentieth century, it was originally prepared to support the teaching of courses in design history and graphic design at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Many of the artists who designed posters during this period were already well known in fields such as painting and architecture. Their creative success helped to bridge the gap between “high art” and popular visual culture, and to introduce innovative contemporary design to those users who had never visited museums or galleries. Today, these charming posters are highly regarded as among the most typical examples of fin-de-siecle styles such as the Art Nouveau.