Jan Lenica was the leading Polish poster artist of last century. His posters has been described as “child like gouaches, verging on the abstract, though immediately distinctive…Lenica’s career in poster art cultivated associations with the absurd”.

Jan studied music, then architecture, then became a poster illustrator and made regular contributions (from 1945) to the satirical journal “Szpilki” as well as book illustrations and began work on posters in 1950 then a collaborator on early animation films. He liked to use cut-out stop motion animation in his films and was mostly known as an experimental animator. This animation work reflected in his posters and book illustrations making them easily recognisable as a lot of them appear to have that cut-out quality.
Over time his art became known to be surreal in its design, he had a theme of satirical dark humour and overall scepticism about life reflecting in everything he worked on.
Lenica was a professor of graphic, poster and animated cartoon studies for many years at German high schools. He lectured at Harvard University in 1974 on poster art, and in 1979 was named the First professor of the animation class at the University of Kassel in Germany. In 1987 he was working in Berlin at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Overall, when I look at his posters he shows me a casual or even dispassionate method of following the rules of design which must have been very strict mid century. Through his use of colour and line we can see echoes of his ground breaking animation experiments and architectural training.

http://www.blogger.com/www.pigasus-gallery.de/Posters/Poster.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lenica

www.kinoeye.org/01/06/bird06.php

www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_lenica_jan

www.der.org/films/screening-room-jan-lenica.html

http://www.blogger.com/www.polish-poster.com/jan-lenica.htm

Rene Gruau

Born in Italy in 1909, settled in Paris in 1924 and embarked on his career as a fashion illustrator. He has worked for the greatest names in Haute Couture such as Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Givenchy, Rochas and Elle.

According to René Gruau, "Elegance is fluid and therefore by definition difficult to define, but it is made of desire and knowledge, of grace, refinement, perfection and distinction". With admirably economical means and perfect purity of line, René Gruau expresses and suggests every nuance of luxury and refinement.From 1935 to 1939, he worked with FEMINA, MARIE-CLAIRE, L'OFFICIEL, L'ALBUM DU FIGARO and other magazines.
In 1946, he did his first job for INTERNATIONAL TEXTILES, whose covers he designed until 1984. Later his friend Christian DIOR entrusted him with drawing the MISS DIOR advertisement and the famous Bar dress. the New Look was born.
In 1948, he left for the United States to work for HARPER'S BAZAAR and VOGUE, before becoming the exclusive artist for FLAIR.
In 1949, he devoted his time to advertising: ROUGE BAISER, LIDO, MOULIN ROUGE, BEMBERG, BLIZZAND.
Between 1950 and now, he has worked for the greatest names in Haute Couture:
According to René GRUAU, "Elegance is fluid and therefore by definition difficult to define, but it is made of desire and knowledge, of grace, refinement, perfection and distinction".
Following in the footsteps of Toulouse-Lautrec in the 19th century, for forty years, René GRUAU was responsible for creating the image of the great cabaret shows of the 20th century.
René GRUAU often uses humour based on idleness to illustrate his drawings; this is no reflection on his personal life. He has toiled tirelessly for seventy years and his work comprises more than 80 000 illustrations.
René GRUAU astounds us simply by the immensity of his work, his modernity, his simplicity and his utter elegance which have resulted in the GRUAU "SIGNATURE".
With his stunning, passionate, figures, his arresting use of color and dramatic, explosive element of line, Rene Gruau developed his distinctive “New Look” in the 1940’s which greatly impacted haute couture, theatre, art, and commercial design. With his trademark use of his powerful minimal line, Gruau’s style combined seductive sophistication with classic beauty, grace and sensual elegance.
Today Gruau’s works are collected and exhibited by the finest art institutions including the Louvre in Paris. Rene Gruau’s artistic passion, intensity and technical brilliance have left a high-water mark on art history.

http://www.americanfineartgallery.com/artists/gruau/gruau_bio.html

http://www.renegruau.com/index.php

 http://www.woodmansterne.co.uk/rene.htm

Kozik has turned Oakley Hijinx™ into a fiendish satire of authoritarianism, jingoism and a few more “-isms”. His brilliantly twisted view of the universe helps contribute towards his electroshock poster designs. Credited with single handedly reviving the "lost" art of the concert poster, culturally gripping, graphically compelling, these are just a few words to sum up Koziks posters .He has done poster designs for big names such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Beastie Boys, e has also been the subject of many magazine articles such as Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Spin, and Details. Not limited to the rock world, Frank has also done work for Nike, BASF, Slim Jim and MTV. His newest venture, fkozik.com, is an interactive site dedicated to creating a place for fans to go as well as purchase his art, both of which are firmly dedicated to producing the ultimate in collectible show posters and prints. Starting with black and white flyers for friends bands posted on telephone polls, his reputation grew as an artist who's work was graphically compelling. Kozik is currently based in San Francisco, California, where he produces artwork and graphics, and formerly managed his own record label, Man's Ruin as well as Rise Records. work is well known to devotees of album-cover art and concert flyer art. He has produced artwork for musicians .Three volumes of his collected poster and album cover designs have been published and are widely available. Kozik has retired from poster design and is currently involved in the designing and production of vinyl toys. Links www.juxtapoz.com www.gigposters.com www.myspace.com  www.criterion.com www.myplasticheart.com

[English Art Nouveau/Golden Age Illustrator, 1872-1898]


Aubrey Beardsley

English - Art nouveau/Golden age – Illustrator 1872-1898

These are the naughty images that kids like to giggle at. Actually, I giggle, too.
Aubrey Beardsley was not at home in the Victorian society in which he lived. These images poke fun at that society and its values. He did make people think. Although most of his drawings were for books or magazines seen by few people, his erotic and haunting drawings have been well known for more than a hundred years.

Aubrey Beardsley's art has gone in and out of fashion many times over the last century. But there is no doubt he has had a lasting impression on many artists who followed him. His life was a brief one. Born in 1872, he achieved fame early, but was dead by age twenty-five. His drawings were not mere illustrations, but formed an integral part of the English Aesthetic Movement and are best understood in this context.

I feel his work went from very beautiful to quite vaguer or offensive to some people. There is a slight Asian feel 2 his work and love this as well the beautiful way he draws women in there gowns.

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=Aubrey+Beardsley&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Beardsley
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/beardsley/abmotif.html
http://www.allposters.com/-st/Aubrey-Beardsley-Posters_c35751_.htm
http://www.allposters.com/-st/Aubrey-Beardsley-Posters_c35751_.htm
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/beardsley.html
http://www.glyphs.com/art/beardsley/
http://beardsley.artpassions.net/naughty_beardsley.html

Alfons Maria Mucha THE PAINTER ,THE SINGER ,THE LOVER

Alfons Maria Mucha was born in the town of Ivančice, Moravia.

His singing abilities allowed him to continue his education through high school in the Moravian capital of Brno. He worked at decorative painting jobs in Moravia, mostly painting theatrical scenery, then in 1879 moved to Vienna to work for a leading Viennese theatrical design company, while informally furthering his artistic education. When a fire destroyed his employer's business in 1881 he returned to Moravia, doing freelance decorative and portrait painting. Count Karl Khuen of Mikulov hired Mucha to decorate Hrušovany Emmahof Castle with murals, and was impressed enough that he agreed to sponsor Mucha's formal training at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.


Mucha moved to Paris in 1887, and continued his studies at Académie Julian and Académie Colarossi while also producing magazine and advertising illustrations. Around Christmas 1894, Mucha happened to drop into a print shop where there was a sudden and unexpected demand for a new poster to advertise a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris, at the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Mucha volunteered to produce a lithographed poster within two weeks, and on 1 January 1895, the advertisement for Gismonda appeared on the streets of the city. It was an overnight sensation and announced the new artistic style and its creator to the citizens of Paris.

Mucha produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper, and theatre sets in what was initially called the Mucha Style but became known as Art Nouveau. Mucha's works frequently featured beautiful healthy young women in flowing vaguely Neoclassical looking robes, often surrounded by lush flowers which sometimes formed haloes behind the women's heads.

LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha
http://www.mucha.cz/
http://www.goodart.org/artofam.htm
http://www.prague-life.com/culture/culture_details/32-Alfons_Mucha_Museum

..FRANK KOZIK.. 

1962

Kozik is currently based in San Francisco, California, where he produces artwork and graphics, and formerly managed his own record label, Man's Ruin as well as Rise Records. His work is well known to devotees of album-cover art and concert flyer art.

Credited with single handedly reviving the "lost" art of the concert poster, Frank's creative career grew largely out of his enthusiasm for Austin's growing underground rock scene in the mid-eighties. Starting with black and white flyers for friends bands posted on telephone polls, his reputation grew as an artist who's work was graphically compelling as well as culturally gripping. With hundreds of full-color, limited edition, silk screened posters under his belt for such renowned artists as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Red Hot Chili Peppers Green Day, Beck, The Offspring and The Beastie Boys. 

Not limited to the rock world, Frank has also done work for Nike, BASF, Slim Jim and MTV. His newest venture, fkozik.com, is an interactive site dedicated to creating a place for fans to go as well as purchase his art, both of which are firmly dedicated to producing the ultimate in collectible show posters and prints.

www.fkozik.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kozik

www.criterion.com/explore/38

www.gigposters.com/designers.php?designer=2386

www.amazon.co.uk/Mans-Ruin-Poster-Frank-Kozik/dp/0867193972

Abram Games

Abram Games (London, 1914—London,1996), British graphic designer. He attended London's St. Martins School of Art for only two terms.
The style of his work — refined but vigorous compared to the work of contemporaries — has earned him a place in the pantheon of the best of 20th-century graphic designers. Because of the length of his career — over six decades — his work is essentially a record of the era's social history. Some of Britain's most iconic images include those by Games. An example is the "Join the ATS" propaganda poster of 1941, nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" recruitment poster. From 1942, during World War 2, Games's service as the Official War Artist resulted in 100 or so posters.
In arriving at a poster design, Games would render up to 30 small preliminary sketches and then combine two or three into the final one. In the developmental process, he would work small because, he asserted, if poster designs “don't work an inch high, they will never work.” He would also call on a large number of photographic images as source material. Purportedly, if a client rejected a proposed design (which seldom occurred), Games would resign and suggest that the client commission someone else.

"Abram Games was the last master of the drawn lithograph before photography replaced traditional techniques in poster
design" Conran Directory of Design.

Links:

www.abramgames.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abram_Games