Date: 1994
Size: 40.5 x 28 inches
Size: 40.5 x 28 inches
Artist: Jan Lenica
Printer: Toppan Printing Co.
About The 100 Best Posters Collection: This poster was originally created Jan Lenica in 1964 for the opera Wozzeck. 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: This poster was created for an opera composed by Alban Berg based on a drama by Georg Büchner. The action revolves around a soldier who is tyrannized by everyone and ends up killing the one person in the world who loves him-his wife-after she is seduced by another man. To convey such despair, Jan Lenica illustrates a terrible scream emanating from a tortured throat and twisted mouth and reverberating in concentric waves of glowing reddish color. The set similarly contained lines that surrounded and oppressed the character. (Source: The 100 best posters from Europe and the United States / 1945-1990, p.88)
This poster is in good condition with a minor rip at the bottom left. Ready to be framed.