An exhibition of archival posters from Poland’s PosterMuseum will open here for public on Wednesday.
Organised by the Polish Institute, “Between Art Decoand Modernism” at the India International Centre (IIC) here will recountthe popular art of Polish posters during 1918-1939.
Since late 19th and early 20th century, poster design hasbeen recognised in the Polish artistic tradition as a source of national pride.The evolution, however, has been gradual and visitors will be able to spotdifferent stylistic approaches.
In its early stages, posters executed in Poland and insurrounding countries were very similar and comparable in form.
Mariusz Knorowski, Chief Curator of the Poster Museum atWilanow (Poland), says that during 1920s, when poster was getting defined as anindependent art form, an interest in folk art patterns emerged, visible infiguration and vivid colouring.
In 1930s, this use of native folklore as a source ofinnovation served to form a Polish national style — resulting in visiblydifferentiated posters.
The art of Polish posters that combined image and text wasalso influenced by the outbreak of World War II.
The war suspended all stylistic development of the Polishposter, rupturing tradition and slowing creative development, explainsKnorowski.
“Post-war Poland exposed artists to increasingideological pressure. Commercial advertising, once a mainstay for posterdesigners, was removed from all aspects of public life,” he said in astatement.
In all, poster design was considered a driving force ofartistic progress as it brought together architecture, painting and sculpturewith artistic design.
Currently, the Poster Museum boasts of one of the largestposter collections in the world and is situated in the Wilanow Palace complex,the residence of King Jan III Sobieski.
The Museum’s archives hold over 62 thousand artistic, advertisingand propaganda prints from all over the world, some of which will be on displayhere.
The exhibition concludes June 28.