Poster art

This form of art has its roots in Paris of the 1850s. Jules Chéret, who is known as the father of the afore mentioned industry, gave to the world a least expensive means of advertisement for everything from a new product to a performance and even election propaganda.

Posters have, over the years, not only provided employment as well as a source of income to potential painters and artists but also serve society in a number of other ways, viz. spreading social messages, aid for organized protests, a means of advertisement for almost everything that can possibly be advertised and so on to form a list that could run into pages.

Initially poster art was essentially achieved by painting on huge sheets of canvas, paper or even sections of walls. Until a few decades back, Indian theatres even hired their own personal artists to paint posters of upcoming movies or performances. However, in the late 19th century, poster art which was already a considerably commercialized art form became more so due to the advent of computer and printing technology.

Printed posters, unlike painted ones were made in bulk and the art of poster making no longer possessed the same preciousness as few years before. Also it slowly lost its social service value as it no longer provided employment, a subsidiary income, or an outlet to the talents of struggling artists from all over the globe.

Old time posters have an unmatched authenticity and glitz of their own. These are collector’s items and people spend fortunes to acquire them. It would however be unfair to take away the title of ‘art’ from poster making of today’s day and age. It doubtlessly provides scope and potential for conceptualizing (especially rock concert posters which portray some dumfounding concepts and talents), and expression of creative ideas along with skills like graphic design.