Vintage Poster Artists Gallery

Leonetto Cappiello (1875 - 1942)

Born in Livorno, Italy, Leonetto Cappiello was one of the most prolific of the vintage poster designers, having produced over 1,000 poster designs during his lifetime. Having drawn since childhood, he was largely a self-taught artist. He moved to Paris in 1898 where he met Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and started his career as a poster designer. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1930. He has been called "the father of modern advertising" for his innovative and colorful graphic designs. His career spanned both the Belle Epoque and Art Deco eras of poster design.

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Jules Cheret (1836 - 1932)

Born in Paris, France, Jules Cheret revolutionized the lithographic printing process, turning it from at most printing two or three unblended colors to producing a full range of richly blended colors, triggering the "Poster Craze" of the 1890s in Paris. Best known for his poster advertisements for the Moulin Rouge, Folies Bergere and other Parisian cabarets, he is the most important figure in the Belle Epoque era of poster design. Influenced by Rococo artists such as Francois Boucher and Jean-Honore Fragonard and influenced Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Art Nouveau artists such as Alphonse Mucha.

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A.M. Cassandre (1901 - 1968)

Born to French parents in Khartov, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, A.M. (Adolphe Mouron) Cassandre, at an early age he moved with his family to Paris, France. He was one of the principle members and innovators of the Art Deco era of poster design. Besides being one of the greatest of the vintage poster designers, he also created typefaces, designed stage sets, and taught graphic design. Influenced by Pablo Picasso and Cubism, his bold graphic designs helped establish the modern cannon of poster and advertising design.

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Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1939)

Born in Ivancice, Moravia, now in the Czech Republic, Alphonse Mucha is one of the most important figures in the Art Nouveau art movement. Initially designing theatre scenery, Mucha moved to Paris in 1887, where, inspired by Jules Cheret, he began a long career as a poster designer. Influenced by Neo-Classicism, he later influenced the psychedelic poster artists of the 1960s. Denounced as a decadent, reactionary, and nationalist after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939, Mucha was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo. Although he was released, he died shortly after from a pneumonia contracted while imprisoned.

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Roger Broders (1883 - 1953)

Born in Paris, France, to parents of Danish extraction (Broderson), Roger Broders was one of the most popular Art Deco travel and tourism poster designers in the 1920s and 1930s, promoting vacation destinations on the Riviera, in the Alps, and elsewhere, including Monte Carlo, Cote d'Azur, Antibes, Chamonix, and other destination, often commissioned by the railway companies that carried vacationers to their destinations.

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Ludwig Hohlwein (1874 - 1949)

Born in Wiesbaden, Germany, Ludwig Hohlwein initially worked as an architect, while painting on the side. He didn't began designing posters until 1906, toward the end of the Belle Epoque era, although many of his poster designs were done during the Art Deco vintage poster era. Hohlwein is known for his fine draughtsmanship, strong graphic composition, and painterly design style, as well as for his naturalistic rendering of both human and animal subjects. Somewhat smudging his reputation, he designed propaganda posters during WWI and WWII.

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Bernard Villemot (1911 - 1989)

Born in Trouville-sur-Mer (Calvados), France, Bernard Villemot was the youngest of the Art Deco poster designers, designing his first poster in 1936. He is anticipatory of modern and contemporary graphic design styles and a rare example of a vintage artist who was successful well beyond the end of WWII. Villemot was influenced by Leonetto Cappiello, A.M. Cassandre, and Paul Colin.

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Theophile Steinlen (1859 - 1923)

Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Theophile Steinlen worked in an Art Nouveau style during the Belle Epoque vintage poster era. Originally trained as a textile designer and painter, he moved to the Montmarte district of Paris in his early 20s. In the early 1890s, he exhibited paintings in the Salon des Independents, before turning to poster design in the late 1890s. Steinlen's association with a group of artists who habituated at the Chat Noir cabaret led to his first poster commission. He also created paintings, sculpture, and magazine illustrations during his career.

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Geo Ham (1900 - 1972)

Born in Lavelle (Mayenne), France, Geo Ham (Georges Hamel) became fascinated at age 13 with the early Peugeot, Bugatti, and other race cars. He grew up to become a car enthusiast and part-time racecar driver. After studying art at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, he combined his artistic ability and interest in automobiles to establish a successful career designing vintage racecar posters, advertising the Monaco Grand Prix, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and other famous car races.

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Kerne Erickson (194? - ?)

Kerne Erickson received his art training at the Los Angeles Art Center College of Design. He initially worked as a commercial artist and graphic designer. With vintage posters undergoing a revival in popularity and collectibility, Erickson is the most prominent of the contemporary artists who have been drawn to create modern "retro" posters in a vintage style. His posters generally focus on historic airlines and their destinations, such as Hawaii, Florida, California, New York, San Francisco, Havana, Tahiti, and other places.

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Belle Epoque (1890 - 1914 approx.)

The Belle Epoque vintage poster era roughly ran from the introduction of multi-color lithographic printing in Paris by Jules Cheret to the start of World War I. Some other important Belle Epoque poster designers include Leonetto Cappiello, Theophile Steinlen, Jean de Paleologue (Pal), Theophile Steinlen, and other poster designers.

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Art Deco (1919 - 1939 approx.)

The Art-Deco vintage poster era roughly ran from the end of World War I to the start of World War II, with the emerging technology of photolithography having rendered the older lithographic printing process as increasingly un-commercial. Some important Art Deco poster designers include Roger Broders, A.M. Cassandre, Marcello Dudovich, Otto Baumberger, and other poster designers.

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Retro Vintage (1990 - Now Approx.)

Retro Vintage posters are designed by contemporary artists, but in a vintage style. Retro vintage posters are a response to the revival of the vintage poster as a popular design medium over the last decade or so. Some of the more significant retro vintage poster designers include Kerne Erickson, Steve Forney, Michael Kungl, and other poster designers.

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