Frequently Asked Questions About Vintage Posters
Advertising posters come from an era before radio and television. Their imperative is to communicate, and to do so with beauty. They touch on every topic, from travel and transportation to fine wine. When people meet us for the first time, they often have questions about how we find so many posters, what constitutes and original poster and how we arrive at the prices for the posters in our collection. Below are the answers to these frequently asked questions.
What are original Vintage Posters?
Posters have to meet a very specific set of criteria in order to be considered original. They have to have been printed for advertising purposes, not to be sold. They have to have been designed and printed in the same time period. Original means from the original print run, it doesn't mean 'one of a kind' because advertising posters were mass produced.
What size were the print runs?
Print runs were anywhere between a few hundred to a few thousand, but the size of the print run is less relevant than the number of a given poster that survived. Most posters were used; they were hung outdoors, fulfilling their intended purpose of advertising, and then they were destroyed by the elements or covered by another poster. We track auction histories going back to the 1980's to decipher how many of a given poster are in circulation.
How were posters printed?
Early illustrated posters were printed using stone lithography. Draftsmen and artists etched images and text into massive slabs of limestone using a grease crayon and an acid bath. They did color separation, using one stone for each color on the poster, and then they layered the colors on the page. In the US, you see a switch to offset lithography at the end of WWI. This faster, photomechanical technique was also adopted in Italy in the early 30s. The French did not adopt this faster method of printing until after WWII.
How do I know they are original?
Buy from a knowledgeable dealer. Ask for a receipt that states that the poster you are buying is original. Ask the dealer to explain the printing and the history of the poster. A knowledgeable dealer will be able to explain how paper changed over the past 150 years, and how printing changed, and will give you a receipt stating that your poster is original.
Why did posters survive?
Posters survived because they are beautiful. The colorful images by Jules Cheret, Theophile Steinlen and Alphonse Mucha transformed the Boulevards of Paris from drab to glorious in the 1890s, and the new poster artists were the toast of the town. The French public began collecting posters, pulling them from the walls of buildings, bribing paper hangers and printers to save them a poster or two every week, and this collecting phenomenon swept the country with force. The average poster collector in 1900 had over 1,000 posters in their portfolio.
Why are they in such great condition?
Not all posters survived in great condition. When you find a pristine vintage poster, it usually came from a print overrun, and was never used. When buying, we come across things which are folded, torn, faded or disintegrating, and we pass on those posters. In the resale market of auctions, posters in very fine or fine condition sell for the best prices, so we try to only buy posters in fine condition or better. Also, we work with a top notch museum conservator. We ship all of our posters directly to our conservator, where they are washed and mounted archivally, a process referred to as linen backing.
How do you find so many great posters?
I have been building the Vintage European Posters collection since 1997. I have sources in a number of different European countries, and I track things down myself as well. I travel to France every year, and find our American things here. I do not buy at auction but I follow auctions closely to stay on top of what is in circulation and market value.
Why are posters valuable?
A poster's value is often tied to its sales result on the open market, at auction. Factors that determine the value of a given poster include the following: artist, rarity, condition and topic. Most advertising posters were only printed one time. After the print house finished a print run, they needed to re-use the lithography stones, so they ground off the original design, polished the stone, and went on to create another poster. Posters are valuable because a limited number of them were created, and most were used or discarded.
How do I know what to choose?
Buy what you love. If you are looking at a big collection of posters such as ours, ask us to pull every poster you like. After you have sifted through a table of 1,000+ posters, and set aside 10 or 12, a clear favorite or favorites will emerge. Some people do buy posters for investment, but it's more important that you choose something that makes you smile when you see it on your wall. If resale value is very important to you, then choose posters by big name artists, although you will pay a premium for those.
Elizabeth Norris has been collecting and selling posters for 13 years. Vintage European Posters has been participating in the Hillsborough Antique Show since 1998; they can be located at Booths # 331-333. They have a showroom in Berkeley, California where poster clients can come and design frames for their posters or other artwork. Visit their web-site: www.vepca.com or email the at vintageposters@vepca.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Norris is the current Vice President of the International Vintage Poster Dealer's Association, and a member of the Ephemera Society of America. She is active on Facebook, linkedin and other social networking sites.
