About The 100 Best Posters Collection: This poster was originally created by Robert Weaver in 1960 for a documentary about the boxer Joe Louis. 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 1950s Robert Weaver uprooted American illustration from its literal, sentimental tradition, and, through loose drawing and expressionistic gestures, created artworks that didn't merely echo the stories they were meant to visualize, but illuminated them. This portrait of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis evokes physical strength and deep humanity; it is heroic, but not in any conventional sense. Weaver collaged found scraps of boxing ephemera into a thought balloon above Louis's head to suggest what might enter the fighter's mind before or after the bout. Or perhaps the collage is a halo that comments on the fighter's exalted status in the sport. (Source: The 100 best posters from Europe and the United States / 1945-1990, p.72)
This poster is in good condition and ready to be framed.
