Posters & Graphics. Theatre. Limited Edition. Norman Clark. ISBN Mosaic Publishing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia

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2 Posters & Graphics Theatre Limited Edition Norman Clark ISBN Mosaic Publishing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia 2

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4 A Note about Copyright. We believe that all the items shown in this book are in the Public Domain and as such are copyright free. All the books in this series we also believe, fall squarely into the Fair Dealing, Review and Criticism area of International Copyright Law, as do all the other similar books that have ever been published. As the works were all originally prepared for free and general public consumption, and not to be paid for, we believe the re-issuing of the images is merely extending their shelf-life as it were. Of course if anyone has an objection to this and has a provable copyright claim, and wishes the object removed, we will do this in any next edition with the appropriate notation as to why it no longer appears. Incidentally, provable means in writing from either the creator, his attested heirs, or a letter stating same from a solicitor or lawyer. A small point to note - it is an illegal act to make a false claim to copyright, so please be sure you are right before acting. We DO check these things and WILL report back to the appropriate authorities in cases of spurious claims. Please also note that ownership of a printed poster, or even original artwork does not automatically award copyright to the owner. That rests with the originator or author of the work unless it was assigned in writing to someone else. Even then, time also matters as after a set number of years after the death of the originator, (usually 70), works generally revert to the Public Domain. Almost all of the illustrations shown have appeared in many media around the world, and that also makes it extremely difficult to establish copyright on individual items as most publishers infer precisely that. However and in reality the Copyright is for the book or work as a whole. We also claim exactly that. Purchase of this book in no way confers any copyright to any of the individual items shown. That s the legal bit! None of the foregoing means that we have any intention of infringing on anyone s genuine copyright. Please see earlier note in para. 2. If by any chance you are the originator (i.e. artist or designer) of any of the works shown in this book, we would be delighted to hear from you, and feature you in our current, and online magazine YesterYearPix. 4

5 About Posters & Graphics Graphics are man s oldest form of illustrative communication. There is evid-ence going back literally thousands of years when using mainly pictographic form, primitive man notified others of good hunting or danger. As time passed, commercial enterprises produced posters or signs which carried illustrations showing what they did, for the benefit of the still largely illiterate populations. We still see this on shipping cartons showing up or down using glasses pictogams or simply arrows. Later when man became more educated, and printing techniques became more common, the world drifted away from the illustrative to the word form, and became stiflingly boring and uninteresting except possibly for the information being put forward. However, companies and commercial properties still maintain image forms and we see evidence today in corporate logos, and of course British public house signs. From here we develop the rationale for posters and indeed all advertising, which is first to be seen, and secondly to inform. This has not changed throughout the centuries. It is only comparatively recently that we have considered two other factors as being essential to all forms of publicity. These have been a) to create desire, and b) generate action, both working to create a sale, either immediately or at some time in the future (brand awareness as this is called). In today s advertising, we have created the AIDA formula, which has nothing to do with the opera, but everything to do with simplification: A - Attract - the attention. I - Interest - the observer/target. D - Desire - create the want. A - Action - to buy the product. Posters have been subject to change in one main sense, as being static, i.e. in one location and with a passing audience, the development of faster forms of transport has meant Attracting attention becoming more important than ever. With shorter attention time available from passers-by, the information has to be specific and to the point, or it will be missed. Naturally, this has been an evolving process, and most of the works shown in this book are from more leisurely times than our own. However, the AIDA principle stays the same and has been the basis on which comments and judgements have been made in this book. Clever practitioners will always try to find ways of appealing to a target audience. Looking at works of other generations in most instances, we can assume certain things about these groups, but in others the posters were produced under unknown circumstances, which could render some judgements as unfair. Mostly this cannot be avoided, except where extraneous circumstances are known, such as War or social upheaval, these have been included where felt particularly relevant. The poster and other signage e.g. neon, have been subject to far more social criticism than any other form of advertising. This is mainly because outdoor advertising is intended to catch the eye, and has been remarkably successful in doing that over many hundreds of years. Yet, it would be foolish to try and defend some truly awful visual pollution. Fortunately little that appears in the following pages can be described in those terms! 5

6 Picture and Image Quality The reference materials used in this and all of the books in the Posters & Graphics series, have been drawn from a host of different sources. Invariably, from material already published when printing techniques were often not as sophisticated as they are today, and which affects the image quality. Therefore, these are variable and dependent upon the printing technique used for the original material, and the quality of the printed article. However, the decision has been made to use many images which may not be regarded as pristine but owing to their relevance have still been included. Although efforts have been made to enhance the image quality, in certain cases this has not been overly successful. It is only possible to enhance work from what is in the original and if something is not there at all, obviously it cannot be improved. It is also interesting to reflect that very little advertising work was ever produced with posterity in mind, and almost never had anything like longevity as a major consideration. Under these circumstances, it is miraculous that so much material has survived. Posters in particular are now such a popular wall-hanging in many homes, that it is possible to forget they were originally created and manufactured to last a very few weeks at most. Posters were expected to get wet and rot away, and the paper quality reflected that fact. It is therefore possible to hold a certain reserve about many posters offered as originals. By definition they were only copies and to find original artwork for posters is almost impossible. Newspapers were often utilised as toilet paper during the times when that particular commodity was scarce and newsprint was literally a dirty word, as not only was the paper of extremely poor quality, the ink came off on the reader s hands, and elsewhere! Still, they all work one way or another, reflect their moment in time, but like some of us, are just a little worn with the passage of the years! 6

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8 This book is another in the Posters & Graphics series related to various themes. Posters & Graphics Old Theatre There must have been literally millions of theatre posters produced over the years, so any selection made is always individual. Having spent 50 years of my own working life as a Commercial Artist, I am claiming a specific interest and even knowledge. With regard to American posters is notable that unlike other markets they would often produce several different posters to promote a play or event. Not just variants but completely new images often to a very high order. They also placed greater attention on the Entertainers than the parts they were playing. The Celebrity Circus is nothing new! It was tempting to try and produce three books separating American, Russian and European works, and this possibly would have been interesting to the specialist theatre buff. However I finally decided to produce a single book, but as this is predominantly a graphic design book I felt it sensible to separate the works by region. From the many hundreds of references available, I have selected what I have felt to be outstanding. The book is therefore divided into three main sections Western European, American, and East European. I have used the word theatre in its widest sense, and have included works from Cabarets, Jazz Clubs and anywhere people would have attended and paid for live entertainment. The images are presented in each section are in approximate chronological order, but I have made no efforts to ensure these are correct, as I feel that although of interest, it is not the purpose of the book to provide an exact historical document. It is possibly invidious to select any single artist out for specific mention, but in this particular sphere it is very hard to go past the incredible works done by Alphonse Mucha, and particularly those done for Sarah Bernhardt. It is an interesting reflection to consider how much his posters contributed to later generations being aware of the great actress. A selection of his works is obviously included. Jules Chéret is to be thanked for enlivening the Paris streetscapes with his joyful and colourful women, and ushering in the new world of coloured posters. Although he created some 3,000 posters in his lifetime and many for the Folies Bergere in Paris, this is slightly misleading as he never created a full poster in his life, leaving it to others to add the words to his images. Yet he is regarded as the Father of the Modern Poster. Even this being a term of some antiquity as we are talking of over 100 years ago when this happened. More recently, psychedelic posters appeared in the 1960 s, and threw all our rules of colour associations out of the window. I remember talking to someone I knew who produced some early posters for jazz and pop concerts held in his Club in the UK. 8

9 As he was not an artist in any recognized sense, I asked him where his inspiration came from, and was told it was purely accidental, as he could not afford to use different screens for the colours used and so residual inks became scraped up with the new ones, with amazing effect. This does not explain the dayglo colours, but as these came in later, and have now disappeared. However it is possible he was indeed an unknown pioneer. Again it may be of interest to the specialist that a work was produced to such and such a size, but this is not overwhelming or essential information for me. The artists ARE of interest, but little is known of many who even got to sign their own work. Such is the life of a Commercial Artist. The pictures are often used to illustrate a technique or style that may not even particularly appeal to me but have been included as I think they are representative of a form that is creative or reflects a certain time or era. As in many cases it cannot be denied that the idea overwhelms the message, which is something we can still accuse creative people of doing in the computer-generated age. Again there is nothing new about this. So this book as with all the others in the series, is a dedication to those wonderful artists, known and unknown, who have brightened our streets over the years. To those who complain about visual pollution of the modern streets, I would suggest that as in all walks of life there are the good, the bad and the ugly and poster design is no different. Yet I truly believe that on average, and certainly when the artist and designers were using paint, ink, pen and paper to create their images, the poster has been the most enjoyable of all advertising media to look at. However, please remember that the images are drawn from a multiplicity of sources, and whilst every effort has been made to provide pristine images, in some cases this has only been marginally successful. I have made the decision to include several because of their design value and not their print quality. After all this is what the book is all about. A final few words about some of the images. I am not a linguist, but I am assured that the non-english language works that appear are indeed Theatre posters! If I am wrong about this, well then just enjoy these for their own sakes, as true works of art. As ever all comments and opinions are my own, and the same applies to any errors or mistakes. Despite this I hope that the reader will enjoy reviewing works from different eras, and like me, wonder where the artists found their inspirations. Norman Clark France

10 Western European Posters This book is divided into three sections to assist in appreciating the differences, and similarities of designs created in each. The sections are Western Europe, America, Russia This first section is concerned with Europe, mainly and erroneously regarded as the cradle of the Modern Poster. The accolade is predominantly owing to the work of one man, Jules Chéret in France. Cheret certainly changed the face of Parisian streets, with his bright cheerful interpretations of attractive women in full colour, which until the late 1880 s was a rarity. However this is rather misleading as although more than 3,000 posters are attributed to Chéret, he never actually put words to any of his illustrations, and concentrated on the figure studies only. This is easily seen through the overprinting of product, place or event names on his pictures. However his influence should never be underestimated as he was a close friend of many Impressionists of his time, and indeed thought of himself as one, and opened their eyes to the possibilities of commercial art for a living. Grasset, Steinlen, Picasso and Toulouse- Lautrec to name just a few. Although graphic styles changed rapidly during the early to midtwentieth century, it is fair to say that the classic period was between were style went from Victorian elaborate, to Art Nouveau, and Art Deco. From this point there were no major predominating styles, and there was a far greater variety in the work from that time on. From the mid-1940 s onwards photography took over the poster business, until there came a revival, regrettably short-lived, in the 1980 s when designers went back to illustrative techniques. However the cost and time constraints to produce excellent works was too great and so by the end of that decade, illustrative art in poster design was all but defunct. 10

11 Although Sarah Bernhardt posters are more associated with the work of Alphonse Mucha, this example is by Eugene Grasset. Although there are superficial resemblances to style, Grasset was far less decorative in his designs. It is possible to enjoy both styles as the artists were impressive in their work. 11

12 One of the most precocious artists of the late Victorian era was Aubrey Beardsley, and was yet another damaged by his friendship with Oscar Wilde. Overtly homosexual, he produced works often correctly regarded as pornographic, yet his style was and has remained unique. He was little appreciated for this work where at its appearance the critics suggested the Avenue Theatre should ave a new poster This passed for humour at the time. The work is astonishingly modern, even more so when it is remembered it appeared in 1894! 12

13 Most Opera posters of the late 19th Century leaned towards a melodramatic, or classical image approach. This is not surprising as most Operas had these as the foundation of their works. This example by Chatiniere is typical. Jules Massenet was without doubt the most prolific composer for Opera in France. 13

14 Theatre posters were always inclined to over-promise what would be shown on-stage! This particular work would have required a huge stage to come even close. Yet theatre has always demanded a suspension of literal belief from its patrons. The artist has obviously encapsulated the main dramatic scene from the show, and it must have been highly persuasive in the decision to attend. 14

15 A nice two-colour idea that went badly wrong, as the mouth of the character is very badly drawn. A distinct curiousity! 15

16 This wonderful 1878 poster shows the LSD prices of Britain, yet the work is copyrighted in New York. A Cross-Atlantic production presumably? 16

17 This early poster appears to be for the British market, unless there was a Lyric Theatre in a Beckley in the USA? The prize money is in US dollars, which adds to the mystery. It is interesting in that it claims to be for the brother of Houdini. A typical 1900 s theatre poster on both sides of the Atlantic. 17

18 Illusionists were probably the most popular entertainers in the early days of theatre, and nothing was more designed to chill (and thrill) than the decapitation of women! More particularly, presumably, as this was done every evening at 8. 18

19 Burlesque is more what would now be regarded as Farce, but this work is rather polite for what it portrayed. 19

20 The Opera Faust by Gounod, was always one that appealed to poster designers as it had all the major melodramatic elements to play with, notably Hell fire and Damnation. This particular work by an unknown artist was produced in 1863 and printed in Milan. It is interesting as it gives equal if not greater emphasis on the Composer than was subsequently the case. It is an interesting, very well produced work, if rather uninspired to later tastes. 20