POLSKI PLAKAT

Exhibition of Polish posters from the 1960s and 1970s - drawn from our collection and that of Luk Mestdagh. 

Polish posters have a rich history and are renowned for their undeniable artistic value. This is demonstrated by how much of the design from this selection of posters from the 1960s and 1970s is still relevant today.

Miraculously, the Polish poster owes its rich postwar development mainly to the communist regime that declared all capitalist affixing taboo. This gave Polish artists a free hand to turn out with an entirely unique plastic and graphic language. This was especially true for posters that presented cultural offerings, such as movie posters. In addition to national film offerings, French, German or English films reached cinemas in Poland. 

The Polish poster owes its rich postwar development mainly to the communist regime. Thus, Polish artists were given a free hand to unpack with a completely unique plastic and graphic language provided the political message was conveyed. Afterwards, however, this enthusiasm waned and the most creative designers resorted to making cultural posters. Their artistic freedom was retained to give a poster the shape and content they wanted. A free, personal and well-kept design is therefore the hallmark of the "Polish School." Henryk Tomaszewski (1914-2005) can be considered the founder and most important representative of this, but many other Polish creators of these graphic masterpieces have also gained a special place in the poster world.

The gallery of the poster is the street — this concise sentence of Henryk Tomaszewski fully reflects the phenomenon of the Polish Poster. In the grey reality of post-war Poland, unusual posters appeared on the rebuilding streets. They were rich in artistic expression, symbols and metaphors, unusual forms and colors. The poster created by outstanding artists became a form of art and the street became its salon. In 1960-ties it was named the ‘Polish School of Posters’ in recognition of its uniqueness and innovations. The poster created by Polish artists to this day is diverse, attracts outstanding individuals, takes different shapes and still looks for new forms of expression.