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The modern poster is considered to have been born in the latter half of the 19th century, in 1866 to be exact. The cities outdoor and indoor building walls were flowered with posters that took their themes from the passing show of 'La Vie Parisienne.'
Jules Cheret and Toulouse-Lautrec created La Belle Epoque posters in France. The Art Nouveau style, typified by Hans Hollwein's woodcut-inspired surfaces, advanced the evolution of the poster on the artistic front.

Posters are extraordinarily clear reflections of the values, trends, and important events of their time. The poster acts as an indicator, shaping attitudes and trends, and this is a superb mirror of the times.
Posters often have more than one creator or perhaps a group including the artist, art director, copywriter, and layout artist, but not always. Some theatrical posters were often signed by the set designer and artists often design posters for their own shows. Twentieth-century printing techniques have made the mass production of illustrated posters possible.

The 20th century brought many new impulses from the painterly arts. The collage of objects and letters of Cubism inspired poster artists, as did Surrealism. The Bauhaus Movement experiments with surfaces, photomontage, and typography were directly applicable.

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Air France
The poster has always occupied a special place in Air France's communication. With a heritage of more than 1,500 posters by the most prestigious illustrators and artists, the Company has one of the richest collections in the world.
Air France uses well-known artists like Savignac, Solon and Cassandre, for example, the Company also innovates by turning to recognized artists such as Cocteau, Mathieu, Brenet, Picart Ledoux or Vasarely.
See a short video prepared by Marianne Hermann on Lucien Boucher and the imagination that went behind the work of Air France marketing. She will share her vast knowledge on the subject of Mid-Century promotional mapping for travel, specifically as it relates to Air France.

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