DMA Posters of Paris: Toulouse-Lautrec & His Contemporaries

Over Christmas break, I had the opportunity to see the Posters of Paris show at the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition took an in-depth look at the affiche artistique (artistic poster) of Paris, pioneered by Jules Chéret, the "father of the poster."The show included work by Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Pierre Bonnard, and other artists who pushed the popularity of the poster in the 1890s.

http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/View/PastExhibitions/dma_442782
http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/PressRoom/dma_499417

This was by far one of my favorite art exhibitions! Being able to see some of the work we have studied in graphic design history classes up close and personally felt like meeting a celebrity, as nerdy as that sounds. While the posters themselves contained fantastic typography, one of the coolest things about the show though was the title type for every section/movement of posters—each section title was lettered in that particular movement's style. For instance, the title lettering for the posters belonging in the Art Nouveau period was literally painted on the wall in the flowing, curvy, asymmetrical Art Nouveau style. I thought this was a great way to introduce each section of the show's posters—fun, yet not overboard. The artwork is what should speak for itself, not the titles. But if I was to design an exhibition someday, I could definitely see doing this kind of thing for each section's title/introduction, if it was an appropriate fit for the exhibition's content.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the exhibit. I wish I had just been a rebel and taken pictures anyway, but for now, here are some images some other brave souls had taken and posted online...