Whether it was Pink Floyd, later the Backstreet Boys, or today’s Taylor Swift: we all brought our pop-culture idols into our teenage bedrooms in the form of posters. But the poster is more than just a modern icon or a mere tool of commercial reproduction. It has long since evolved into an autonomous work of art.

To trace the origins of poster art, one must first turn to its predecessor: printmaking. In Europe, printmaking emerged as an artistic medium around 1400. At first, prints served a devotional purpose, bringing religious imagery into every household. These images were not initially seen as art; their makers viewed themselves as craftsmen and were often anonymous. And yet, for the first time, images entered private life—where previously they had been reserved for church spaces or the wealthy elite.

Now we change location and time: Paris, nearly four centuries later. In the metropolis on the Seine, from 1872 onward, lived a young artist named Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901).

A descendant of an old aristocratic family, the artist – who due to genetic disorders reached a height of only 152 centimeters – produced numerous depictions of Parisian nightlife during the Belle Époque. One frequent subject was the famous cabaret, the Moulin Rouge, but Toulouse-Lautrec also created color lithograph advertising posters for other venues such as the Chat Noir and for contemporary musicians. Today, his posters are highly sought after and expensive, Toulouse-Lautrec was not only a pioneer of poster art as an independent genre but also a renowned painter.

We move the clock forward once more and find ourselves in Vienna. Founded in 1897, the Vienna Secession championed the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk—a total work of art permeating all aspects of life. And what better medium to bring art to the people than the widely reproducible poster? The Secessionists must have entertained just such a thought. A unique poster was designed for each of their exhibitions. Moreover, each poster was created by a member of the Secession, elevating it to a singular work of art. These posters often reflected sophisticated visual programs. The poster for the First Art Exhibition of the Vienna Secession, designed by Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), shows the ancient hero Theseus battling the seemingly overpowering Minotaur, symbolizing the intellectual triumph of modern art over academic tradition. In 1918, Egon Schiele (1890–1918) designed the Poster for the 49th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession and titled it Round Table. Here, his fellow contemporary artists are cast as a knightly fellowship in the style of Anglo-Norman hero legends, with one seat at the table deliberately left vacant – a space left by Schiele’s recently deceased mentor, Gustav Klimt, whose death left a profound void within the Secession.

Poster art was once described as the “poor man’s art gallery”—a phrase that carried a certain truth. For as charming as the Secessionist idea of total art may have been, in practice it remained quite elitist. Consider this: who could afford the decorative arts from the Wiener Werkstätte? Certainly not the working class. Thus, even then, the poster was the only form of art that could truly be consumed by everyone.

The journey through poster history continues into the American Pop Art of the 1960s, which sought to question the drive for reproduction in an increasingly technological society. But today, we can simply be grateful that art has found its way into our homes and brings us joy every day.

Article by Sophie Touzé