Date: 1994
Size: 38.25 x 28.75 inches
Size: 38.25 x 28.75 inches
Artist: Grapus
Printer: Toppan Printing Co.
About The 100 Best Posters Collection: This poster was originally created by Grapus in 1982 for the theatre show Les Bas-Fonds. This is an official reissue from 1994 from the collection The 100 best posters from Europe and the United States / 1945-1990.
"In describing the rationale behind this portfolio, Hiromichi Fujita, the President of Toppan Printing Co., explains in the introduction that, "the decision to publish The 100 Best Posters from Europe and the United States 1945-1990 was motivated by our earlier collection of Japanese reproductions published four years ago . . . the first collection was intended as a small contribution to the field of graphic design, which has enjoyed an inseparable relationship with the printing industry for many years now." The selection of posters in this collection were chosen by a panel consisting of Steven Heller, Alain Weill, Milton Glaser and Yusaku Kamekura. All posters chosen (...) were reproduced and were then donated to art museums and related educational institutions in 200 locations around the world. In addition to being forms of expression, these posters, which were created in the diverse social conditions that have prevailed since the end of World War II, truly serve as a testament to the age in which they were produced." (Source: swanngalleries.com)
About the poster: In the late seventies and early eighties, Grapus created for the Théâtre de la Salamandre in Tourcoing, France, a line of posters, programs, and graphic ephemera that was as coherent as it was innovative. For Les Bas-Fonds (The Dregs of Society) by Maxim Gorki, they chose a particularly painful image of a severely decayed set of teeth. A band of color and modest title typography cannot distract from this apparition, the unspeakable violence-and fascination—of which end up making it hard to look away. (Source: The 100 best posters from Europe and the United States / 1945-1990, p.152)
This poster is in good condition and ready to be framed.