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In the
fascinating field of poster collecting, a sector which in recent years has
acquired a notable surge in the market — so much so that auction houses today
dedicate special departments to it — collecting art exhibition posters is a
rapidly growing trend. Especially among young generation collectors,
rediscovering this type of poster represent a first step in the
multifaceted world of poster collecting.
Why choose an exhibition poster
On the one
hand, art exhibition posters are becoming appreciated again because they
represent an accessible way to take home with you an iconic image, perhaps that
of a masterpiece by a famous artist, completed with eye-catching graphics
showing the date and event details; but in addition to their aesthetic power,
these objects take on an emotional value, acting as evidence of a memory, of a
special day that remains imprinted in the memory. A tailor-made frame will make them even more precious, personalizing them and
transforming them into our unique pieces.Collectible posters
Collecting
exhibition posters is a phenomenon inevitably linked to the 20th century, the
era par excellence in which large and memorable art and design exhibitions
began to proliferate. Furthermore, in the first half of the 20th century,
exhibition posters were almost always made in lithography, a technique that
brought the world of graphics onto the walls of homes through a combination of
images and fonts carefully chosen in order to obtain the maximum visual effect, making
the posters not only beautiful and decorative objects, but also real
works of art that are complex and difficult to replicate.Industry
experts explain that posters from exhibitions before the 1970s are rarer, even
for the most important exhibitions. This is because, unlike today, the posters
intended to advertise exhibitions in museums and galleries were not designed to
last over time, and at the same time, there were few visitors who recognized their
aesthetic or cultural value and decided to keep them. Until relatively
recently, museums and galleries did not make reserve copies of posters
available to the public, which made print runs rather limited.
Among the most sought after posters by the most expert collectors, those designed by the
artists themselves stand out, as Henri Matisse did, but names include naturally Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Roy Lichtenstein,
David Hockney (just to name a few), in short, those great artists who
created unique designs to promote their exhibitions, making their posters among
the most coveted. Even the artist's simple signature establishes a personal
contact between the artist, the poster and whoever owns it, making it immediately
special. In the case of large and legendary collective exhibitions, such as the First
International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin (1902), or for example, the first Armory Exhibition of Modern Art in 1913, the poster takes
on the value of a real document historical.
