Short history of the poster - A street girl
Marceline Camard
Co-Founder & Fashion Expert at Kiobuy - Join the Luxury Lifestyle Future
The first posters were born after the authorization of Fran?ois I in 1539; the display is then used to counter the first attacks of the Calvinist religion, whose faithful did not hesitate to use the walls of the city to give more visibility to their faith. Little by little, the profession of poster artist is growing - we do not yet speak of advertising agency! - and in the eighteenth century, there are about forty in Paris, who report their activity by a copper plate screwed to their building, like a doctor.
The development of the poster in urban spaces is very much linked to architecture, especially in Paris: the work undertaken by Haussmann facilitated its development, entire districts covering themselves with palisades offering the display companies a space where they could install wood frames for a reserved display. Moreover, the smallest wall is covered with posters in unauthorized display, composing a colored mosaic that the observers of all then noted. The sandwich man also appeared at that time, a moving poster in the streets of the capital.
Gradually, the posters invaded the subway, the toilets and the Morris columns, which were born in the service of this advertising medium. With the 20th century, the poster is political, and the question of the artistic value of these graphic supports arises: is the poster one of the aspects of the democratization of art? It is also at this point that the first opponents of the public display are heard, considering that they disfigure the urban space: the debate is not closed! The regulations are becoming clearer, the outlines of the legal display become clearer, and some displays disappear, such as the roof-mounted luminous display, which was common at the beginning of the century.
Let's quote now Savignac, one of the greatest French posters designer of the century, who pays tribute to this inexpensive, and faithful reflection of the times: "the poster is a street girl. Popular and aristocratic. Flower of the pavement or queen of the palisade, she offers to all as a gift without ever losing herself. This beautiful, colorful kid that turns heads is the champion of clear and concise communication.
