An art poster with printed art print is a poster - or directly translated: 'art poster' - which with its illustration gives the viewer a visual experience through an immediate story or a specific narrative. According to the French historian Max Gallo, the history of the poster can be traced all the way back to before the 19th century but the modern poster as we know it today only began in the mid-19th century, when various techniques saw today's light in France and then the rest of Europe.
In that period, a technique developed within lithography, where you could color your type of print and also began to be able to produce the posters on a larger scale. It was the starting point for being able to create attention among the population and awareness of different messages and stories. In the beginning, the beautiful art of posters was largely used to inform about political views, sell a special product or encourage the viewer to attend an event at a certain time such as a carnival or theater.
When the information could be so clear, it was also about the art poster being a platform that mixed the eye-catcher from the illustration with keywords and other text in the form of possibly a date, the name of the product or perhaps a call to action. A type of poster differs in this way from more text-heavy works by not necessarily – at least not historically speaking – being created for immersion in the here and now. Instead, one should be able to pass the work and in a split second be able to decode the message.
For that very reason, art prints were widely used during the Second World War in the United States, where they tried to recruit young men to join the military with a simple message of national colors. By placing a type of poster with text such as "Your country needs you" over an eye-catching graphic, people were reminded in the streetscape that the country was in the middle of a war and they were forced to decide whether they should be part of the solution.
Art posters have come inside
Art prints have undergone a rapid development since it was discovered to add color to the lithography, and in the same way today have acquired a new social role. The often colorful poster is not necessarily the most effective way to reach people, although of course you still see posters hanging on lampposts for elections or in connection with a traveling circus. On a daily basis, however, the poster has long since been overtaken as the primary communication channel – also in a political context.
But in exactly the same way as the art poster did 200 years ago, it can easily catch the eye today. That is why you find all kinds of illustrations and graphic works of art printed in 2D and framed on the walls of homes around the world. If the wall is not just white, but has a beautiful and striking eye-catcher, the artwork with art print will still be able to create reactions. You may not enlist under the banner of the military, but you will still experience a feeling exactly as the artist intended.
On this page, we want you to be inspired to choose the most beautiful wall decoration for exactly your home, your workplace or the place you think is the obvious location for a work of art that sparks new thoughts. The art poster has had its heyday in the public space but as a cultural institution the journey is by no means over, as evidenced by the many walls around the world. Whether you want to express a particular political point of view or you just want to break the white wallpaper, here you can find art posters that will fulfill your wall art needs.
