The much anticipated Poster House Museum opened in June, 2019, exhibiting posters from their earliest appearance in the late 1800s to present day. Here, visitors will explore New York’s long relationship with advertising and design, including nearly 100 select works from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) Subway Series.
The inaugural exhibitions currently on view are Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau/Nouvelle Femme and Designing Through the Wall: Cyan in the 1990s.
The collection at Poster House includes posters of historical or aesthetic importance such as the 2017 women’s March, political and educational posters, pop art, vintage propaganda posters and more.
Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau/Nouvelle Femme, located in the Main Gallery, and Designing Through the Wall: Cyan in the 1990s, located in the Jewel Box Gallery, are curated by Angelina Lippert, and on view through October 6, 2019.
Next up ~ The Golden Age of Hand-Painted Movie Posters from Ghana and 20/20 Insight: Posters from the 2017 Women’s March on view from October 17 through January 5, 2020.
Designed by LTL Architects, the 15,000 square foot space will host rotating exhibitions of international posters from all time periods and cultures, exploring how this ephemeral medium came to become the people’s art. The museum includes two exhibition spaces, a cafe, a children’s area, climate-controlled storage, an educational workshop, gift shop, interactive features and offices.
The SVA donation consists of 98 of its Subway Series posters stretching back to 1996, including works by Milton Glaser, Louise Fili and Paula Scher, among others.
The SVA Subway Series poster donation is part of its ongoing gift to the museum, of newly created posters that will join the Museum’s permanent archival collection.
On the lower-level, below, additional rotating exhibitions and fun features where you can learn more, and interact with posters ~ think like a designer with the Poster Machine.
The first of many rotating mini-exhibition in the Lower Level is a set of unique Japanese Red Cross posters from the 1920s, printed to teach school children the value of manners and public health, as well as to demonstrate Japan’s “soft power” in the wake of World War I.
Mark your calendar for ‘The Art of Good Taste: Decorative Arts of the Belle Époque’, September 19th from 6-8pm, a tour to be held at the Macklowe Gallery, 445 Park Avenue.
Poster House is the new site of the Rene Wanner Library. Wanner was a prolific Swiss poster collector and poster historian, amassing a collection in the late 1970s with an eye towards documenting the continued appreciation and development of posters. The 3,000 volume library on posters and related subjects was donated to Poster House by the Wanner Family in 2018.
Poster House Museum is located at 119 West 23rd Street in Chelsea. Adults $12; Students, Seniors and Visitors with Disabilities $8 (a caregiver is free); and Kids under 18 Free ~ or become a Member.
Take advantage of Museum Day on September 21st, and receive free admittance to Poster House!