Cardiff gallery celebrates the art of the poster

One of Wales’ leading galleries is set to celebrate the art of the poster this month, with original posters by three of the greatest artists of the twentieth century – Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso.

Albany Galler has long advocated for artists’ posters as a great way to own affordable works by the very best.

Many of the leading 20th century artists enjoyed designing their own exhibition posters, often in the form of original lithographs printed by some of the great Parisian print ateliers such as the Mourlot Frères studio.

While the poster, by nature, is ephemeral and mint copies are rare, they remain a relatively inexpensive way to buy original prints by artists like Picasso and Matisse and are hugely flexible to display, working in harmony with a broad range of other artworks, styles, and interior settings.

The team behind Albany have shared five reasons why they think an artists’ poster should hang in everyone’s home.

1. They’re Modern

They shared:” One of the things we love about artists’ posters is how fresh and modern they feel. Most posters of this kind were produced in the 1950s and ‘60s during a golden age of graphic design when the ‘adman’ was king.

Artists’ posters encapsulate an aesthetic that feels as alive and relevant today as it did when they were first issued.

Something about the combination of original art and graphic elements also lends the poster a cooler, less ‘stuffy’ feel, allowing them to hang as easily in an informal creative office as they would on your upstairs landing.

We find they sit equally well alongside paintings, prints and photographs as they do other posters too, and complement designer furniture effortlessly.

2. They’re Different

When you buy an artists’ poster, you’re not just investing in an artwork – you’re buying something that was the result of a unique partnership between artist and printmaker and that captures the essence of that collaboration.

Artists were closely involved not just in the reproduction of their artwork but in the graphic design and layout, from choices of typography and colour to designing new images specifically for the exhibition poster itself.

Artists’ posters thus offer a very different and rewarding insight into the artist’s mind – as a designer, as well as a creator – and one that won’t be as evident in their other work as it is in this special medium.

3. They’re Generous

One of the most obvious but most overlooked aspects of the poster is its shape and size. Because posters were designed with a specific function in mind and had to be big enough and interesting enough to catch a viewer’s eye, they’re invariably pretty sizable.

Where an etching or a linocut by the same artist for the same price might be half the size, a poster is almost always going to offer bigger ‘bang for your buck’ than other print media, making them a brilliant purchase for newly graduated students or first home buyers with plenty of blank wall space to fill.

There’s something to be said for the functional aspect of the poster too. Posters were designed to be attractive.

They brought visitors to exhibitions because they looked good – they were well proportioned and featured exciting designs and colours – and they left you wanting to see more.

A poster’s always going to look great on your wall; that’s what they were made to do!

4. They’re Collectible

Unsurprisingly, artists’ posters have always been popular and in recent years have become incredibly sought after.

Their appealing design, relative scarcity, and their built-in history and contextual background with the exhibition they were attached to have meant these prints continue to entice long-time buyers around the world.

Because of their distinctive feel and tone, with original artwork and graphic design working in tandem, posters look especially good when put alongside one another and make for wonderful collectible sets on their own, as well as special works within artist-specific collections.

Whether you’re stumped about what to add to an already-established collection or are beginning to catch the collecting bug, we feel artists’ posters are a no-brainer.

5. They’re Not Expensive

Not only do posters look good, they’re also not going to break the bank.

While on occasional, very special signed posters may tip towards the thousands of pounds, most artists’ posters can be bought for anywhere between £400 and £2000 depending on their rarity, condition and collectability.

Original paintings and sculptures by Chagall, Matisse, and Picasso can fetch many millions of pounds in auction houses.

While those prices remain stratospherically out of reach for most of us, artists’ posters offer the chance of owning an original work of art by hugely important artists for mere fractions of those prices.

The exhibition runs from Friday 10 January to Saturday 8 February 2025

Find out more at www.albanygallery.com