The Guadalajara Reporter

The art of the poster

February 14, 2014 would have been my husband Georg Rauch’s 90th birthday. In celebration of his life, I am preparing a birthday show at Quattro Gallery, Colon 9 Ajijic, beginning at 3 p.m.  The exhibit will include a selection of posters from our large collection.

I find the history of the poster fascinating. Purely textual flyers and handbills have been with us almost as long we have been able to read and write. It wasn’t until about 150 years ago, when the full color poster, combining graphics and text, came into its own.

The modern poster as we know it was made possible by the perfection of the lithography printing process.  What a blessing that was, since only six years previously, Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec was born. In spite of the childhood disease which broke his bones and left him a midget, Lautrec became a painter and very familiar in the cafes and dance halls of Montmartre where he spent most of his time. In contrast to his misunderstood friend, Van Gogh, Lautrec sold his art and became famous, even though that fame was based on his gorgeous posters of prostitutes and dance hall girls rather than his oil paintings. 

Take a minute to think about the posters in your own life, depending on your age of course. In the 1940s Rosie the Riveter was encouraging women to take up men’s jobs in the factories. My own mother was one who did just that, thereby supporting me as a toddler.  Perhaps posters of a favorite sports team, or of Elvis decorated your bedroom as a teen-ager or at college? And if you were a rock music fan, you may have collected posters of your favorite bands.

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