At the time, not only was the portrayal of a woman kicking her leg in the air considered indecent, but the poster's skewed perspective and abstract composition distressed viewers with its vivid, avant-garde style. Regardless, the concept of the poster had been born as it achieved its intended purpose: to attract attention to itself and (hopefully) covey a message.
At first, laws were written to protect the innocent from this type of publicly-displayed visual assault. Eventually, these ordinances were relaxed as artfully-innovative posters began to appear in the city streets of Europe. Before long, posters were hawking everything from breakfast muffins to literary journals. Classic posters of this type include Pierre Bonnard's lively illustration for France-Champagne and Maurice Denis' graceful design for the La Depreche de Toulouse newspaper.
From this simple but masterfully-executed beginning, poster art has become a worldwide phenomenon ranging from movie posters to art lithographs to gigantic billboard advertisements. With the advent of computerized photolithographic equipment, just about any type of image or message can now be quickly and faithfully mass-reproduced.
Since the poster tends to affect viewers at different levels, it has also been used throughout the world for patriotic and political purposes. Remember the poster image of Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer in an effort to recruit armed service enlistees? How about the giant images of a provincial despot plastered about the streets (just so you don't forget who's in control)? Currently, no political rally or group convention is complete without sophisticated posters that both touch and inspire their beholders.
Originally, many artists avoided translating their art into posters because it required an unwanted alliance with the printmaker. Other artists explored the new medium in order to obtain a certain type of look that could not be achieved by painting alone. Some struggling artists saw poster commissions as a way to make some quick money while gaining instant mass recognition. Most that contributed to this genre concentrated on the art, realizing that it's the message that's important and not so much the media.
A young Toulouse-Lautrec became excited by the possibilities of this new medium after viewing an exhibition of illustrations by Jules Cheret, who is now considered the founder of Parisian poster art. Inspired, he gained his first commission by winning a poster design contest that was sponsored by the Moulin Rouge cabaret.
From these preliminary works, Toulouse-Lautrec went on to create some of his most famous poster art, including the works that featured the red-haired dancer Jane Avril and Yvette Guilbert, who was usually clad in signature long black gloves. These posters excelled in highlighting the personality of the entertainer, a concept that has successfully transcended into today's celebrity advertising.
In their earliest form, poster prints were created by cutting or etching away material from wood, stone, or metal blocks to produce a relief plate. This plate was then inked by roller and the image transferred to paper by press. Since the relief plate was durable, many prints could be created from one impression, either identically or in various ink styles.
Traditional types of poster relief prints included woodblock, cast plaster block, stone lithography, and linocut. In all cases, the background portion of the image is cut from the material and the remaining relief is inked and transferred to paper. This type of print technique is mostly mechanical and usually performed by hand.
As technology advanced, engraving and chemical etching processes developed into intaglio printmaking techniques. This type of print design allowed artists to create more detailed images that contained extremely fine lines and gradients of color. An intaglio print plate has its relief surface wiped clean (the opposite of relief printing) while ink remains within the fine, incised lines of the plate. When pressed, this pigment is transferred to paper.
Stencil and screen prints have also been successfully used to create poster art. In screen printing, the printmaker attaches a stencil to a screen fabric that is stretched over a frame. Using a flat squeegee, ink can be pressed through the non-stencil portion of the screen to produce an image on the underlying paper. By using different colored inks and multiple screen stencils, many variations of poster image can be quickly created.
Today, most mass-produced posters are made from sophisticated computerized printers. In digital form, images can be taken directly from photograph or film cell and printed. Art illustrations can be created by using advanced computer graphics software that allows the artist to paint images on a computer screen and then instantly print the results.
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