Plakate von der Belle Époque bis in die 1960er Jahre
As of the late 19th the poster became a powerful pictorial mass medium century thanks to the invention of lithography. And even today, despite the digital media, posters still are regarded as one of the most effective forms of advertising.
Around 1900, especially in France, posters, so-called »affiches«, gave rise to a wave of enthusiasm (affichomanie) and to great artistic productiveness, which had an impact on the whole of Europe. Subsequently posters were produced for culture, entertainment and commerce, and also for political propaganda. In terms of style, poster design went through many different phases – beginning with the Art Nouveau artist’s poster and continuing on through Bauhaus, Expressionism and Art Deco, up to and including the International Style and Pop Art. The exhibition highlights selected examples from the 6,500 posters in the holdings of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, a representative cross-section through the history of the poster from its genesis to the present day. The exhibition focuses not only on the most important printers, but also on the pioneers and leading artists in the field of poster design. This selection is complemented by a number of outstanding objects thus enabling an important side of the history of our taste and culture to come alive.
