University Poster collection

Posters are cheap to produce, can be easily displayed in public as well as private areas, and use images and slogans that are easily understood by the masses. Due to these attributes, posters are used primarily as a tool of advertising and propaganda. Posters have their beginning in England as printed bills in the late 15th century. Typically these bills were typographical with accompanying wood cut images and promoted meetings and theater performances. With the increase of manufactured goods during the Industrial Revolution, the poster's stature as a tool of advertising experienced an upsurge. Alois Senefelder's invention of the lithographic process resulted in a cheaper and faster printing process that was quickly adopted by advertisers as well as artists. The public's interest in posters grew dramatically in France during the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th century. Fine artists such as Alphonse Mucha and Henri de Toulousse-Lautrec incorporated lyrical and fantastic themes with typical advertising conventions to create posters that blurred the line between fine art and advertising which became immediate collector's items. The poster maintained its elevated stance as a tool of communication throughout the 20th century, being employed by governments during World War I and World War II as tools of spreading nationalistic propaganda as well as being utilized by private industries to sell goods and services.