: International Poster Gallery confirms the notion that the best
things come in small packages in its tenth annual Summer Show,
"Mini-Masterpieces." The show features several newly acquired
collections of original poster miniatures, in-store displays,
magazine covers and luggage labels from the 1890s to 1945.
Many of the greatest designers of the Twentieth Century are
represented, including Cassandre, Cappiello, Toulouse-Lautrec,
Dudovich, Parrish, Bradley, Leyendecker, Matter and Bayer. For
starters, the gallery's huge new collection of antique magazine
covers contains classics from Le Rire and Jugend,
the French and German satire magazines from the
turn-of-the-century, to American classics from Harper's, Asia,
Inland Printer the old Life, Fortune, The New Yorker,
Stage and Vogue. There are Cassandre covers from
Harper's Bazaar; Erte, Marty and Benito covers from
Vogue; Frank McIntosh from Asia; and Rockwell from
The Saturday Evening Post.
The gallery has also assembled a large collection of in-store
displays, usually cardboard-backed, miniposters that would
accompany products in stores. Oftentimes, these would be the same
design as the full-scale posters appearing on kiosks and
hoardings around the city. Notable examples include the Bertozzi
Parmigiano cheese ads featuring three large noses savoring a hunk
of parmesan and Nizzoli's Deco-inspired design of a rooster for
an aperitif.
The show includes two important turn-of-the-century sets of
poster miniatures. In Italy, the most talented artists worked for
the music publisher Ricordi, creating posters for opera,
retailers and other clients. The show features an original
portfolio of miniatures from Ricordi, 70 plates of its posters
from 1900 to 1914 -- Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Corriere della
Sera and a dozen masterpieces from the Mele Department store
series by Dudovich, Metlicovitz, Cappiello and Terzi.
From France is the complete "Maitres de L'Affiche," of "Masters
of the Poster," 1895-1900, an original series of 256 of the
greatest posters of the Belle Epoque, rendered in portfolio size.
These small-scale lithographic treasures were published by Jules
Cheret and include posters by 97 artists including
Toulouse-Lautrec, Mucha, Bonnard, Cheret, Livemont, Parrish,
Bradley and Hohenstein.
The show is rounded out by a collection of luggage labels from
all over the world. Beginning in the late Nineteenth Century,
hotels gave these to guests to apply to their bags as a memento
of the stay and as a status symbol.
Since opening in 1994, International Poster Gallery has hosted
more than 30 thematic exhibitions of original vintage posters.
The exhibition, through September 3, is free and open to the
public. Hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday,
noon to 6 pm, at 205 Newbury Street. Call 617-375-0076 or visit
internationalposter.com for information.
