The 1890s were a powerful decade of change in poster art; France’s lithographers led the world in creating new styles and images that combined advertising with art. Toulouse-Lautrec’s influence disappeared with his death in 1901, and after the turn of the century the “Art Nouveau” style of poster art gradually weakened. Instead, posters took a more realistic and simplistic direction, frequently involving one central image on a plain background (see Leonetto Capiello’s Chocolat Klaus [1903], left). In the early part of the century, France and Germany emerged as Europe’s real poster powers. French posters were often highly stylized, while Germans preferred to create caricatures (Barnicoat). Toulouse-Lautrec’s influence was still detectable in the large, flat planes of color that were common in German work.
During World War I, Europe and the United States slackened off in their production of commercial posters and instead turned to propaganda. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom created memorable works, but the most iconic images came from the hands of American designers (see James Montgomery Flagg’s I Want You for the U.S. Army [1917], right). The use of a solitary but imposing figure almost threatening its viewers was a common tactic in both Britain and the U.S. (Barnicoat).
After the war, poster design changed rapidly. Photography began to replace the more traditional hand-drawn and hand-lettered posters of the previous decades, the incorporation of Cubism in designs became more prominent, and the cinema emerged as a competitor in producing striking images and stirring propaganda. Germany in particular continued to create novel works; the “Bauhaus” designers were known for executing posters that seamlessly fused advertising with “stylish social commentary” (Barnicoat). Avant-garde images began to crop up across Europe, including but not limited to Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia, where photography was becoming increasingly popular 
(see El Lissitzky’s Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge [1919], left). The influence of abstract art increased slowly, making itself most visible in the uses of bright colors and clearly-defined shapes.
In the 1930s, posters were adopted as an advertising medium by railroad companies, which caused a shift in the poster-making population; private artists were replaced by graphic designers. Images became more streamlined and more commercially effective as a result of this change, but posters became something of an industrial weapon (Barnicoat). As the twentieth century progressed, the artistically stylized posters of Chéret, Steinlen, and Toulouse-Lautrec became passé; the art of poster-making slowly transformed into a more professional and less personal enterprise.
World War II was another reshaping period in the poster’s history; stiff competition from both cinema and radio led to an increase in the use of photography in poster designs. During the war, they were frequently and effectively used to convey governmental messages to the public (as evidenced by such titles as Your Talk May Kill Your Comrades [Games, 1942] and America’s Answer - Production [Carlu, 1941]). After 1945, poster art began to evolve rapidly. The United States became a center of poster production; its commercial fecundity created a large advertising market, and many graphic designers 
emigrated from Europe to take jobs. Surrealism and humor became common motifs, artistic releases after the years of war. Switzerland was another home to influential designers, who gently combined wit with clean images and bright colors (Barnicoat).
Psychedelic posters emerged during the 1960s and 1970s with hippie culture; exceedingly bright colors and fusion of text and image were hallmarks of this movement. Cuba and Poland emerged as design leaders, but poster production continued globally. From the 1970s on, development progressed toward more modern motifs. Avant-garde art, photography, and hand-drawn images have found equal footing in the poster world, and the hunt for new and provocative designs continues (Barnicoat). The distance between the lithographed posters of the 1890s and today’s glossy, modern affairs is great indeed. If Toulouse-Lautrec were to visit Paris tomorrow, would he recognize the images on its walls as posters?
IMAGES
Capiello, Leonetto. Chocolat Klaus. 1903. Etablissement public et logement social. Laurence Jequozo-Viénot. Paris: Montchristien, 2002. Plate 18.
Flagg, James Montgomery. I Want You for the U.S. Army. 1917. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Lissitzky, Eliezer Markovich. Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge. 1919. Stedelijk Van Abbe-Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Younger, Evan. Katz: the Jam. 2006. Princeton University: private collection.