POSTER 



6287 



POST-IMPRESSIONISM 



into England from France in 1664. 

 It was hired for the journey, as 

 also were the relays of horses 

 employed to draw it from one 

 posting-house to another. 



Poster (Lat. postis, post, some- 

 thing placed or set up). Large 

 printed sheet of paper, usually of a 

 broad, pictorial design, posted up 

 on a wall, hoarding, etc., for ad- 

 vertising or other purposes. Posters 

 in the modern sense of the word 

 were a product of the 19th century, 

 though in France theatrical adver- 

 tisements took this form two 

 centuries earlier. Monochrome 

 drawings were introduced for 

 French poster work about 1835 and 

 onwards, and the coloured poster 

 by Jules Cheret (q.v.) in 1866. 



In Great Britain the standard 

 reached has for the most part been 

 less uniformly good, and even in 

 the 20th century much singularly 

 crude and inartistic work was pro- 

 duced. In contrast with these 

 eyesores the work of such com- 

 petent artists as Aubrey Beard sley, 

 Walter Crane, the " Beggarstaff 

 Brothers " (James Pryde and 

 William Nicholson), Dudley Hardy, 

 John Hassall, and many others, 

 stands out prominently. Perhaps 

 one of the most popular of the 

 posters ever employed for adver- 

 tising purposes was Millais' pic- 

 ture, Bubbles. Another very effec- 

 tive use of a well-known painting 

 was the reproduction during the 

 Great War of Whistler's portrait of 

 his mother, in connexion with the 

 campaign for the sale of War 

 Savings certificates. Especially 

 notable from the artistic point of 

 view were the posters produced for 

 the London Underground combine. 



The poster artist in his appeal to 

 the public, while not disregarding 

 detail altogether, aims at broad 

 effects of line and colour, and some 

 of the most successful posters 

 have been simple in design. The 

 picture having arrested the eye, 

 the lesson, from the advertiser's 

 standpoint, is carried home by a 

 few well-chosen words in clear type, 

 so that the passer-by realizes at a 

 glance what the poster is intended 

 to convey. Humour never fails to 

 evoke response. 



The activities of the Great War 

 produced an enormous number and 

 variety of posters in all the belli- 

 gerent countries, the U.S.A. being 

 prominent in this respect after they 

 joined the Allies. Recruiting 

 appeals (see Fore-shortening), 

 calls for economy, and a hundred 

 other subjects were presented with 

 a directness and emphasis which 

 produced good results. Psycho- 

 logically, the poster, by its re- 

 iterated appeal to the eye and 

 brain, is, at its best, au important 



LYCEUM 



DON 



UIXOTE 



Foster by the Beggarstaff Brothers, advertising the production of Don Quixote 

 at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in 1885. Original size of poster, 6 it. square 



factor hi advertising, and recog- Poste Restante. French term, 

 nized as such. From the collector's also in general use elsewhere, for 

 point of view the large size of the the department in a post office 

 ordinary poster presents difficulties, where letters can be sent to wait 

 nevertheless the hobby was popular until the persons to whom they are 

 for some years. See Advertising. addressed call for them. Originally 



instituted for the 

 convenience o f 

 persons travelling, 

 the department as 

 a rule is not 

 avaMable for use 

 by residents in the 

 town itself. 



Post - impres- 

 sionism. S' In >nl 

 of painting, origin- 

 ating in France 

 with Paul Cezanne 

 (q.v.). The Post- 

 Impressionist 

 strives to record 

 the emotional sig- 

 nificance of things, 

 instead of their 

 mere outward ap- 

 pearance, which 

 is the Impression- 

 ist's principal aim. 

 (See Impression- 

 ism.) In practice 

 this involves the 

 substitution of de- 

 liberate design for 

 passive natural- 

 ism, which in turn 

 means a drastic 

 Post-impressionism. A View in Martinique, painted by ; mr j;fifin nt 

 Paul Gauguin and exhibited at the Post-impressionist 



exhibition in the Graf ton Galleries, London, 1910 natural forms. 



