Poster - announcement, advertisement, art object
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The word poster appears in the 16th century in the Netherlands. During the struggle for liberation against the Spanish occupiers, the Dutch had pamphlets posted on house walls and walls with glue.
A poster is a large sheet of paper, usually printed with text and images, that is affixed to a suitable surface in public to convey a message.
The function of the poster is to convey information quickly, often with a propagandistic intent. The target audience of the poster includes not only those who seek this information, but also those who perceive the poster and its message in passing.
Simplified lithography
Jules Chéret, considered a pioneer of poster art, was both a craftsman and an artist. Trained as a lithographer, he worked for several years in London, where he learned how to print large paper sizes. Back in Paris, and now the owner of his own print shop, he simplified the complicated color lithography process to such an extent that even good color prints required only three to five stones, instead of up to 25 as before. This reduced costs considerably and was an important prerequisite for the widespread distribution of high-quality posters.
Poster movement
A contemporary of Cheret's found, "The most beautiful spectacle of nature will never outweigh the sight of a billboard." Views of this nature were typical of the height of the "poster movement" in the 1890s. Posters were judged according to the criteria of free art.
This idealistic approach lost its significance after 1900. When advertising was evaluated objectively, it soon became apparent that an artistically high-quality poster was not necessarily also the most effective advertising medium. Instead of artists, commercial artists were now in demand, experts in advertising.
Political posters
With the beginning of the First World War, posters were given a new task: political propaganda. All warring parties used posters to recruit soldiers, raise money through war bonds, promote arms production, and make the respective enemy look bad. In World War II, posters were again in the service of war propaganda, both for the Allies and on the side of the fascist "Axis Powers."
Since even today hardly any major social event can do without the poster (e.g., elections, exhibitions, films, theatrical productions, commemorative days, sports festivals, appeals, advertisements for consumer goods), the poster still has a great deal of everyday significance.
