What is a poster? Poster of the past and future

Do you know what a poster is? According to the Explanatory Dictionary of Dahl, this word means an announcement on paper about an impending show or gathering, for viewing which you need to pay a certain fee. The word has French roots, but it has easily taken hold in the Russian language. But how to interpret the words "afishchechnitsa" or "poster" (the peddler and the advertiser of ads of the female and masculine gender, respectively), not everyone knows. But it is thanks to their work on our streets, there are a lot of ads, publications, advertisements and, more modern language, billboards, banners and citylights. By the way, all these words so different in sounding are synonymous with the same word.

That's what a poster is. Without it, the life of a modern man would be gray and uninteresting, and the so-called motor of commerce would not appear.

The first posters. History of origin

The first posters - clay tablets with ads - were placed on the walls of the houses already in 73 AD. In ancient Rome for "posters" was allocated a special square, clearly stands out on the white wall of the house. However, later, at the request of the townspeople, a law was passed prohibiting this kind of advertising, as it spoiled the appearance of buildings and harmed the dwelling of people.

With the invention of paper and a printing press in the middle of the XVth, the advertising business was put on stream, and what the poster was learned was learned by the residents of already modern houses. However, neither the complaints of citizens, nor the laws on the prohibition of putting up advertisements on the walls of houses were taken into account. Moreover, the "forbidden fruit", which generates income, turned out to be too sweet, and it was thanks to the adopted sanctions that it became more and more popular.

The theater begins ... with posters

The theatrical poster is a clear evidence of the repertoire of the theater and its cast. It reflects the views and tastes of the viewer of a certain time.

If from the first posters he received only information about the place where the performance will be given, the time of the beginning of the performance, the surnames of the performers of the main roles and the prices for tickets, then in time the theater bill has undergone significant changes - it has become more colorful and colorful. Such announcements about performances became masterpieces of painting - famous Russian artists were involved in their design: I. Bilibin, A. Golovin, V. Vasnetsov, A. Vasnetsov, F. Shekhtel, P. Grigoriev, I. Bondarenko, B. Zvorykin and several others .

Noteworthy in this respect is the work done for the enterprise by SP Diaghilev and a poster written by the famous Russian portrait painter V. Serov. The ballet was in vogue, and the Paris audience hurried to contemplate the performance of the greatest ballerina of the twentieth century, Anna Pavlova. Parisians did not suspect that they were lucky twice. After all, they could enjoy not only the performance of a famous ballerina, but also the creation of a brilliant Russian artist who captured Pavlov.

Luckily for the descendants, this poster remained: the ballet was performed by Pavlova. Now a sample of fine art is exhibited in the Moscow Theater Museum. A. A. Bakhrushin.

In the same museum there is another valuable exhibit - a poster, dated 1791, for the play "Kestrel" by the Petrovsky Theater.

Movie poster

Special attention should be paid to the playbill of cinemas. Above its creation, sometimes worked a whole team of artists. Before starting to work, the masters looked through the film, selected a suitable shot and made several sketches. The most successful of them claimed, and only then the artist began to create. An experienced master could write a large enough cloth in just three days.

The cinema posters were made on canvas using chalk and gouache, and from the rain and snow it was protected by a thin layer of PVA glue applied over the finished work.

The canvas was used several times, because it was not difficult to wash off the previous drawing. Because of this, many posters for movies have been preserved except in the photo and in the memories of their creators. It's a pity…

Posters of the past

What is a poster in the understanding of the older generation? This is a small masterpiece of art, which was admired, when for several hours in a row had to stand idle in line for the ticket counter for a ticket. The poster had a first appointment. They could not be ignored, even just passing by. Now the posters and advertising posters surrounding the space so hung that they just stop noticing.

Posters of the future

However, the real masters of posters and posters meet in our days. For example, the Polish artist Veslaw Valkuski is the creator of posters for the theater and cinema, executed in a surrealistic spirit. The works of this author are thoroughly permeated with mysticism and are very recognizable due to the fact that they deliberately use a muted color scale, and the parts of the human body that make up the plot are mercilessly transformed.

The works of Valkuski are exhibited not only in his homeland - in Poland, but also visited international exhibitions, recognized in the homeland of the film industry - in Hollywood.

Modern theater and cinema posters are increasingly being replaced with color print or banners. Created as a carbon copy, they are beautiful, but lost their individuality.