Les Maîtres de l'Affiche (The Masters of the Poster) is one of the most prestigious and influential art publications in history. Its 256 color plates have preserved for each succeeding generation a wide- ranging selection of outstanding posters from the turn of the century, when the popular art form had reached its first peak. This Dover edition is the first complete republication of the legendary Maîtres set to devote a full large page to each plate. Les Maîtres de l'Affiche was issued as separate numbered sheets measuring 11 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches. Every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900, subscribers received a wrapper containing four consecutively numbered poster reproductions. On 16 occasions, the monthly wrapper also contained a bonus plate, not a poster reproduction but a specially created art lithograph. Jules Chéret, father of the modern poster, emerged with the lion's share of the plates, 60 of the 240 numbered poster reproductions and 7 of the 16 unnumbered bonus plates. Of the 97 artists represented in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche , some were preeminent painters and printmakers at various stages of their Toulouse-Lautrec, Denis, Bonnard, Vallotton, Puvis de Chavannes. Others were famous illustrators and cartoonists of the period, still well known to art collectors and Forain, Caran d'Ache, Ibels, Willete, Boutet de Monvel, Léandre. But there were also all those whose names say "poster," the conquering pioneers of the new Chéret himself, Mucha, Steinlen, the Beggarstaffs, Grasset, Penfield, Parrish, Bradley, and Hardy. This edition reproduces the plates in their original numerical sequence, one to a page, retaining the standardized tan border introduced by the editors of Les Maîtres . The bonus plates, originally unnumbered and issued at various times, have been given the letters A through P and have been placed at the end of the volume. The List of Plates indicates the exact months in which Maîtres subscribers received these bonus plates. In order to keep the plate pages uncluttered, the captions on those pages have been limited to plate number (or letter) and the artist's name. The List of Plates also furnishes essential data on the original full-sized their dimensions, the year in which they were first published, city of publication, and specific print shop responsible. A special Dover feature, which is almost certainly a first ever, is a full literal translation of the text of all posters printed in a language other than English. These are all new direct translations from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Czech, and Hungarian.
Ah the gilded age, when the rich lived well, and everything was beautiful, including the advertising posters from the Opera to Electricity to Chocolate Milk.
This is a fabulous collection of those posters, done by famous artists, and not so famous artists. The likes of Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Cheret, and Maxfield Parrish. Some of these posters are still recognizable today.
My only complaint about this volume is that the notes are in a different section, so you have to flip back and forth to find out about each poster, and the notes that are available are not that informative. But, this does service the purpose of having all these posters in one place, and perhaps it would have to be another book to go into more detail.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
'The Complete "Masters of the Poster:: All 256 Color Plates from "Les Maitres de l'Affiche' edited by Stanley Appelbaum is a gorgeous collection of art from an earlier age.
Starting with an introductory foreword by the editor, the history of the collection is given. There is an extensive bibliography giving translations for the posters. Then the posters follow. Who knew ads for magazines and chocolate milk could be so elegant? Certainly this is a lost era which valued the beauty in things as simple as advertising. The majority of the collection is in French, but there is English and German as well. Jules Cheret seems to be the most prolific artist in the collection, but there are lots of other artists, including Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec.
It's wonderful collection to feast your eyes on, and I certainly enjoyed getting the chance to read it.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Dover Publications and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
A delightful collection of vintage posters, always very interesting to check out. However, my digital copy was a little messed up, I could just not get it to show the entire page, so every poster bottom was cut off :( that's why it's 4 stars. But I believe this will not be a problem with the print edition, and things like this are best to savor in print anyway!
P.S. I got this on Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
A great collection of vintage posters, some of which I would adore to have as prints myself. I found the introduction to this volume a little sparse yet informative, and the whole was set out very well indeed. I read a galley edition of this, and whilst it was lovely, I would have preferred a hard copy, just so I could linger for longer over the pictures.
Thank you Netgalley and Dover Publications for the ARC! Surprisingly, after having read this, Toulouse-Lautrec is my favorite artist from that period and style no more, because thanks to this publication I was able to discover some of my new favorite 'Masters'. Full review on my blog.
Es increíble, pero Tousolouse-Lautrec ya no es mi artista preferido de ese período y estilo, porque gracias a esta publicación descubrí nuevos "Maestros" favoritos. Reseña completa en mi blog.
"Les Maîtres de l'Affiche (The Masters of the Poster) is one of the most prestigious and influential art publications in history. Its 256 color plates have preserved for each succeeding generation a wide- ranging selection of outstanding posters from the turn of the century, when the popular art form had reached its first peak. This Dover edition is the first complete republication of the legendary Maîtres set to devote a full large page to each plate.
Les Maîtres de l'Affiche was issued as separate numbered sheets measuring 11 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches. Every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900, subscribers received a wrapper containing four consecutively numbered poster reproductions. On 16 occasions, the monthly wrapper also contained a bonus plate, not a poster reproduction but a specially created art lithograph. Jules Chéret, father of the modern poster, emerged with the lion's share of the plates, 60 of the 240 numbered poster reproductions and 7 of the 16 unnumbered bonus plates. Of the 97 artists represented in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche, some were preeminent painters and printmakers at various stages of their careers: Toulouse-Lautrec, Denis, Bonnard, Vallotton, Puvis de Chavannes. Others were famous illustrators and cartoonists of the period, still well known to art collectors and bibliophiles: Forain, Caran d'Ache, Ibels, Willete, Boutet de Monvel, Léandre. But there were also all those whose names say "poster," the conquering pioneers of the new medium: Chéret himself, Mucha, Steinlen, the Beggarstaffs, Grasset, Penfield, Parrish, Bradley, and Hardy.
This edition reproduces the plates in their original numerical sequence, one to a page, retaining the standardized tan border introduced by the editors of Les Maîtres. The bonus plates, originally unnumbered and issued at various times, have been given the letters A through P and have been placed at the end of the volume. The List of Plates indicates the exact months in which Maîtres subscribersreceived these bonus plates. In order to keep the plate pages uncluttered, the captions on those pages have been limited to plate number (or letter) and the artist's name. The List of Plates also furnishes essential data on the original full-sized posters: their dimensions, the year in which they were first published, city of publication, and specific print shop responsible. A special Dover feature, which is almost certainly a first ever, is a full literal translation of the text of all posters printed in a language other than English. These are all new direct translations from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Czech, and Hungarian" (From Publisher)
I am a sucker for vintage pop art posters! It is a gorgeous collection of prints along with with some descriptions behind it. I do think that this book would be better in print as you detach the prints. I also think art books in general are nicer in print.
This is lovely collection of the 256 plates from "The Masters of Posters" which were produced from the period of 1986 to 1900. This book has lovely small reproduction of these plates with a full list of the artist information about the posters. I have always enjoyed these posters and it is good to be able to find out more about them, as well as have them all in the one book. This would make a wonderful coffee table book as the posters are so well known, that people always like to know more about them. This book was provided to me in return for an honest and unbiased review
The Complete "Masters of the Poster" is a republication of a book originally published in the 90's. The subject is poster art of the late nineteenth century - the "Belle Epoque" specifically.
Originally, "Masters of the Poster" was a French poster subscription service that sent its members a poster each month, from December 1895 to November 1900. And on sixteen separate months, the lucky subscribers received a bonus original lithograph from a master poster artist. This book collects all 256 posters in full page plates. This is the way a true art book should be.
Each of these posters has been beautifully reproduced so that we of the twenty-first century can enjoy these beautiful and influential Art Nouveau masterpieces. If you are a big fan of posters and Art Nouveau, this book will make you fall in love all over again with them. Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Parrish - the list goes on and on.
There are posters from other countries besides France, and translations of the posters into English is featured in a section in the book. This is so useful and thoughtful, since the posters are appreciated so much more when you know what their purposes are.
A beautiful and well done book, well worth reading even if you are not an art person. I greatly enjoyed it.
On a dull and damp day, sitting in a chair by the heating vent and looking at pretty Art Nouveau posters is an a-okay thing to do. Obviously, the optimal way to do so would be in a big, glossy, coffee-table book, with thick sheets that take both hands to turn and smooth down, but on my iPad works too. Click-click-click, pretty poster after pretty poster. I'd decorate my walls with the ones I liked best if I could.
It's Dover, so bare-bones as Dover often is. Having the translation of the posters in a completely different section than the posters themselves, rather than on the same page as the poster itself, may work better in a print book than the e-book, where one can flip with more impunity. But if you're just in it for the pretty pictures, typography, and graphic design, then really, what do the words matter?
Off to find out which ones are in the public domain for me to print off.
The Complete "Masters of the Poster" All 256 Color Plates from "Les Maitres de l'Affiche" went on sale July 20, 2016.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an advanced reading copy of this book for my fair and honest review. Since this was in electronic format, the book definitely lost a bit in translation and should be "read" in actual physical book format. I say "read" because the majority of the book is comprised of reproduction poster prints and there isn't a lot of text other than a history of the subject and a brief background for each of the artists featured in the collection. That being said, the poster artwork is simply stunning and is made up of a variety of artists, subject matter and style, despite being from a very specific time period. These illustrations are truly gorgeous, and are a bit of history that will appeal to art lovers, those interested in the time period and designers alike. 4 stars for content; 3 stars for format (ELECTRONIC)
Fantastic collection of art! These posters are beautiful. I also really enjoyed this books feature that it had the text on the posters translated into English, otherwise there were many I wouldn't know at all what they advertised. Knowing the purpose of the poster makes them a lot more interesting and worthwhile! My only dissappointment was that the details for and translation of each poster was in an index at the beginning of the book and not provided with each poster. Otherwise exceeded expectations in number of posters, quality and information about them!
A masterful publication of the iconic posters which were issued every month to subscribers, during the latter years of 1800's. Dover has produced a wonderfully colourful book with reproductions of posters from Mucha etc. A great introduction to the Art Nuevo movement and an essential addition to any art book shelf. I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Dover Publications via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
256 Prints from the heart of the art deco period by names that have become Masters Toulouse-Latrec Mucha Woodbury Cheret Fischer The art contained in this books is astounding Reading it is like a class on art history beautiful and moving in the way that only true art is
Beautiful and simply stunning. Beautiful plates and artists names and tons of information. I received this from NetGalley on behalf of the Publisher in e-book format, but I imagine it is incredible in hard copy and would make an amazing gift or coffee table book.