Poster

A poster is a large piece of printed paper that has a message, usually with picture of something. Posters are made to be shown in public on a wall or other flat surfaces. They were the main form of public advertising before the web, and they are still used.

Posters are used for advertising, education, propaganda, and decoration.Hillier, Bevis 1969. Posters. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Barnicoat, John 1979. Posters: a concise history. London: Thames & Hudson.  They may also be copies of famous works of art.

 Chromolithography and the poster 
Chromolithography (color lithography) was invented by Engelmann & Son, who were granted a patent in 1837.Twyman, Michael 1970. Lithography 1800–1850. Oxford University Press. p160 After that, it was a matter of time before it reached full commercial development.

Because of its low production costs, over the 50 years after the American Civil War, millions of chromolithographs were printed and were sold for under $10. Louis Prang, a Bostonian, produced fine-art subjects, such as still lifes, landscapes, and classical subjects.Gallo, Max 2002. The poster in History. W.W. Nevertheless, it was only after 1847 that the Jules Chéret posters showed their real potential.Hutchinson H.F. 1968. The Poster: an illustrated history from 1860, chapter 2. London: Studio Vista. .

 Examples 
Jules Chéret

19th century posters in the US
General source:Margolin, Victor 1975. The golden age of the American poster. Ballantine Books. 

Louis John Rhead

Edward Penfield

 Toulouse-Lautrec and Post-impressionism 

Art nouveau posters and the impact of graphics on painting

 Posters in the first half of the 20th century 
Posters were used for war propaganda, to encourage young people to enlist in the army, and to sell government war bonds. From a strictly artistic view, the posters were unimaginative and far from the masterpieces of the late 19th century posters. The posters almost all came with a caption to bang the message home.

 References 

Category:History of printing
Category:Graphics
Category:Advertising