Poster Theory Through Japanese Eyes

Izuo, Arai and Ikebe Yoshiatsu. 新井泉男、池辺義敦 編.

Posutā no riron to hōhō ポスターの理論と方法. [Poster theory and method].

Tōkyō, Atoriesha 1932.

147 pages, 20 leaves of plates (of which four in color), 16 unnumbered pages of plates.

23 x 16 cm. Original cloth.

EUR 750

Rare survey of modern poster art and its key tendencies, with special focus on the Soviet political poster. The numerous illustrations emphasize modernist aesthetics, especially Constructivism and Bauhaus. Published in Japan during the first Soviet-five-year plan (1928-1932), an ambitious industrial modernization campaign, five-year plan posters are especially well represented among the examples.

Curiously these are shown alongside German, French, British, andAmerican posters advertising consumer goods such as coffee and Shell Oil as well as luxury experiences such as cruises along the French Riviera. A number of contemporary Japanese posters reflecting the modernist tendencies follow the Western examples. Photomontage is also of special interest, with striking photomontage poster compositions for Dziga Vertov´s films „The Man With the Movie Camera“ and „Eleventh Year“ and political posters by Gustav Klutsis. Finally, several pages of illustrations show ways in which public spaces were used for slogans and advertising in the Soviet Union an in the West.

Very nice copy, only the cover is slightly browned, the spine a little stronger.