Vintage Posters From the Archive
This selection of vintage posters comes from the Brooke Alexander Gallery archives, and therefore they present an overview of the history of the contemporary art world itself. Each poster is not simply an advertisement of a particular exhibition or art event, they are collectively historical objects themselves, representing eras of time, sometimes through the patina of age.
During the 1800s posters were often judged by thier effectiveness - their status as art was secondary to their ability to compel people to buy or do something.
Susan Sontag has stated that the poster was originally intended to "seduce, to exhort, to sell, to educate, to convince, to appeal." By the 1960s the poster itself became the commodity. According to the Poster Annual, it "has become a symbol for the dream
of a new world even though very few of the dreamers can express what thier new world is to consist of."
Before the rise of radio and television, the poster offered a way to reach a range of people, literate or not, all at once. Avant-garde artists sought to appropriate the techniques of modern advertising. In 1923, a Russian Constructivist manifesto urged, 'Be A Poster! Advertise and project a new world.'
- Hua Hsu, New Yorker Magazine, July 2019
Roy Lichtenstein
Reflections: Art, 1989
color screenprint
36 x 54 in. / 91.4 x 137.2 cm
Edition of 150, signed
$4,500.
Donald Judd
Donald Judd / Josef Albers Chinati Foundation Poster, 1987
color offset lithograph
23 3/16 x 32 1/4 in. / 59 x 82 cm
$250.
Keith Haring
Tony Shafrazi Gallery Exhibition Poster, 1988
color offset lithograph
25 x 34 1/4 in. / 63.5 x 87 cm
Sold
Richard Hamilton / Marcel Duchamp
The Oculist Witnesses, 1968
offset lithograph on coated card stock with silver embossing
31 1/2 x 23 in. / 80 x 58.4 cm
The "Oculist Witnesses' a detail from the reconstruction by
Richard Hamilton of the large glass 'The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even"
Sold
Bruce Nauman
Caffeine Dreams (Donald Young Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1987
color offset lithograph
36 1/2 x 24 in. / 92.7 x 61 cm
Sold
Robert Rauschenberg
Museum of Modern Art Exhibition Poster, 1977
color offset lithograph
45 3/4 x 29 3/4 in. / 116.2 x 75.6 cm
$500.
Alex Katz
Dog at Duck Trap (Poster), 1975-1976
color offset lithograph
32 5/8 x 43 in. / 82.9 x 109.2 cm
Edition of 300
Sold
Andy Warhol
In the Future... (Moderna Museet, Stockholm Sweden Exhibition Poster), 1968
offset lithograph
34 x 34 in. / 86.4 x 86.4 cm
Sold
James Rosenquist
Castelli-Feigen-Corcoran Exhibition Poster, 1980
offset lithograph
30 3/4 x 26 in. / 78.1 x 66 cm
Sold
Robert Longo
Gretchen (Allport Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1985
color offset lithograph
42 x 27 in. / 106.7 x 68.6 cm
Sold
Andy Warhol
Williams College Museum of Art, 1986
color offset lithograph
34 x 34 in. / 86.4 x 86.4 cm
$500.
Matthew Barney
Cremaster 5, 1997
offset lithography and silkscreening from photograph, with hot-stamped foil and embossing
33 x 23 in. / 83.8 x 58.4 cm
Edition #96/250, signed and numbered
Sold
Richard Serra
Tilted Arch Defense Fund, 1985
color offset lithograph
39 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. / 99.7 x 56.5 cm
Sold
Claes Oldenburg
Festival 72' Seattle Center, 1972
color offset lithograph
38 x 25 in. / 96.5 x 63.5 cm
Sold
Robert Motherwell
Newport Opera, 1979
color offset lithograph
29 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. / 75.6 x 55.2 cm
$150.
Jasper Johns
Whitney Museum of American Art Exhibition Poster, 1977
color offset lithograph
45 6/8 x 29 3/4 in. / 116.2 x 75.6 cm
Sold
Philip Pearlstein
New Watercolors (Allan Frumkin Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1978
color offset lithograph
24 x 15 1/2 in. / 61 x 39.4 cm
Sold
Roy Lichtenstein
The Poetry Project Symposium Poster, 1988
color screenprint
42 3/4 x 30 in. / 108.6 x 76.2 cm
Edition of 60, signed
$4,500.
John Baldessari
In Por Esas - Not Even So, 1989
color offset lithograph
18 7/8 x 26 1/2 in. / 47.9 x 67.3 cm
$135.
Joseph Cornell
The Early Collages (Castelli Feigen Corcoran Exhibition Poster), 1980
color offset lithograph
17 1/2 x 15 in. / 44.5 x 38.1 cm
Sold
Fred Sandback
Exhibition Poster (Before Letters), 1977
color offset lithograph
14 x 19 in. (35.6 x 48.3 cm)
$60.
Robert Rauschenberg
I Love New York Poster, 2001
color offset lithograph
39 31/4 x 25 in. / 118.8 x 63.5 cm
$125.
Francesco Clemente
Poetry Project Poster (with Allen Ginsberg), 1990
color offset lithograph
22 x 39 in. / 56 x 99 cm
Edition of 500
Signed
$325.
Roy Lichtenstein
Reflections: Art, 1989
color screenprint
36 x 54 in. / 91.4 x 137.2 cm
Edition of 150, signed
$4,500.
Donald Judd
Donald Judd / Josef Albers Chinati Foundation Poster, 1987
color offset lithograph
23 3/16 x 32 1/4 in. / 59 x 82 cm
$250.
Keith Haring
Tony Shafrazi Gallery Exhibition Poster, 1988
color offset lithograph
25 x 34 1/4 in. / 63.5 x 87 cm
Sold
Richard Hamilton / Marcel Duchamp
The Oculist Witnesses, 1968
offset lithograph on coated card stock with silver embossing
31 1/2 x 23 in. / 80 x 58.4 cm
The "Oculist Witnesses' a detail from the reconstruction by
Richard Hamilton of the large glass 'The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even"
Sold
John Baldessari
Two Unfinished Letters (Working Materials Exhibition Poster), 1992
color offset lithograph
35 3/4 x 21 2/4 in. / 90.8 x 54.6 cm
signed in pen bottom middle
Sold
Bruce Nauman
Caffeine Dreams (Donald Young Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1987
color offset lithograph
36 1/2 x 24 in. / 92.7 x 61 cm
Sold
Robert Rauschenberg
Museum of Modern Art Exhibition Poster, 1977
color offset lithograph
45 3/4 x 29 3/4 in. / 116.2 x 75.6 cm
$500.
Joseph Beuys
Gespraech Ueber Baeume, 1980-82
color offset lithograph
23 3/8 x 16 1/2 in. / 59.5 x 42 cm
Edition #21/70, signed and numbered
$550.
Alex Katz
Dog at Duck Trap (Poster), 1975-1976
color offset lithograph
32 5/8 x 43 in. / 82.9 x 109.2 cm
Edition of 300
Sold
Andy Warhol
In the Future... (Moderna Museet, Stockholm Sweden Exhibition Poster), 1968
offset lithograph
34 x 34 in. / 86.4 x 86.4 cm
Sold
James Rosenquist
Castelli-Feigen-Corcoran Exhibition Poster, 1980
offset lithograph
30 3/4 x 26 in. / 78.1 x 66 cm
Sold
Robert Longo
Gretchen (Allport Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1985
color offset lithograph
42 x 27 in. / 106.7 x 68.6 cm
Sold
Andy Warhol
Williams College Museum of Art, 1986
color offset lithograph
34 x 34 in. / 86.4 x 86.4 cm
$500.
Matthew Barney
Cremaster 5, 1997
offset lithography and silkscreening from photograph, with hot-stamped foil and embossing
33 x 23 in. / 83.8 x 58.4 cm
Edition #96/250, signed and numbered
Sold
COLAB
The Real Face of Terror, ca. 1985
color screenprint with glow in the dark ink
26 x 20 1/2 in. (66 x 52 cm)
Sold
Richard Serra
Tilted Arch Defense Fund, 1985
color offset lithograph
39 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. / 99.7 x 56.5 cm
Sold
Claes Oldenburg
Festival 72' Seattle Center, 1972
color offset lithograph
38 x 25 in. / 96.5 x 63.5 cm
Sold
Robert Motherwell
Newport Opera, 1979
color offset lithograph
29 3/4 x 21 3/4 in. / 75.6 x 55.2 cm
$150.
Jasper Johns
Whitney Museum of American Art Exhibition Poster, 1977
color offset lithograph
45 6/8 x 29 3/4 in. / 116.2 x 75.6 cm
Sold
Philip Pearlstein
New Watercolors (Allan Frumkin Gallery Exhibition Poster), 1978
color offset lithograph
24 x 15 1/2 in. / 61 x 39.4 cm
Sold
Roy Lichtenstein
The Poetry Project Symposium Poster, 1988
color screenprint
42 3/4 x 30 in. / 108.6 x 76.2 cm
Edition of 60, signed
$4,500.
John Baldessari
In Por Esas - Not Even So, 1989
color offset lithograph
18 7/8 x 26 1/2 in. / 47.9 x 67.3 cm
$135.
Joseph Cornell
The Early Collages (Castelli Feigen Corcoran Exhibition Poster), 1980
color offset lithograph
17 1/2 x 15 in. / 44.5 x 38.1 cm
Sold
Jasper Johns
The Poetry Project 20th Year Symposium, 1987
offset lithograph
33 1/2 x 20 1/8 in. / 85.1 x 51.1 cm
signed
Sold
Fred Sandback
Exhibition Poster (Before Letters), 1977
color offset lithograph
14 x 19 in. (35.6 x 48.3 cm)
$60.
Robert Rauschenberg
I Love New York Poster, 2001
color offset lithograph
39 31/4 x 25 in. / 118.8 x 63.5 cm
$125.
Francesco Clemente
Poetry Project Poster (with Allen Ginsberg), 1990
color offset lithograph
22 x 39 in. / 56 x 99 cm
Edition of 500
Signed
$325.
The English writer, painter and critic Wyndham Lewis wondered if posters could be used for good, effecting 'public taste.' An inventive poster, he believed, could help people 'appreciate the essentials of design better than picture galleries have ever done.'
- Hua Hsu, New Yorker Magazine, July 2019