Advertising The Sun - 1895

VINTAGE FRENCH POSTER - GICLÉE PRINT

This vintage poster is an example of "Affiche Artistique", advertising the Boston publication "The Sun".  The artist was Louis Rhead.  The poster was published around 1895.

Dimensions:  15" x 24"

Artists in the late 1800s found opportunities to present their work to the masses through advertising art that began to appear as billboards and posters, plastering the streets of Paris.  “Affiche Artistique” was the term that the French used to describe a poster that contained artistic expression.  The art was so impressive to the public, people began to collect the posters as soon as they went up, which is why they are so scarce today.  Artists such as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Jules Chéret, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Pierre Bonnard and Eugène Grasset contributed to the creative body of work that became what some called  “a free museum for the masses”.  The craze for collecting these examples of modern art was even given the name, "affichomanie", meaning “artistic poster mania”.  Collectors today pay hundreds, if not thousands for original prints of these rare posters. 

We offer these exceptional vintage poster reproductions in the highest possible print quality.  Superior to most reproductions currently available on the market, our gallery quality prints are suitable for display in an art gallery or museum.  We begin with an ultra high resolution scan of the original artifact which we leave untouched, leaving intact the slightly distressed vintage character desirable in a collectible piece of this era.  Our state of the art, giclée reproduction process uses the latest technology: microscopic droplets of ink that render such a high resolution, that every minute detail of the original is intact.  Every pen line and brush stroke is visible.  Even very faint pencil lines are also visible due to the incredibly high quality of the reproduction process.  Our 8 color, archival quality inks and giclée printing process provide the most accurate color reproduction & are proven to last over a hundred years. Posters are available printed on museum quality archival paper or on repositionable media that allow you to plaster your walls with the “Affiche Artistique”, just as they were originally intended to be displayed. 

About the artist:

Louis John Rhead
English, American, (1857 – 1926) 

Louis Rhead was born and raised in Staffordshire.  His father, George Rhead, was an avid potter.  George Rhead taught ceramics at local schools where he was well known for his skill in ceramic design and gilding.  Louis was a standout student of his father’s.  He was sent to Paris to study art at the age of thirteen, later returning home to work for the popular Minton and Wedgwood ceramic companies.  Rhead immigrated to the United States to work as the art director for New York City’s D. Appleton & Company in 1883.  Rhead’s poster designs appeared in popular magazines of the 1890s, including Century Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar and Scribner’s Magazine.  In 1895 he received the Gold Medal award for Best American Poster Design at the International Poster Show in Boston.  Rhead illustrated several children’s books in the early 1900s, including Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island and Kidnapped.  He also was an accomplished fly-fisherman, who made, and sold his own fly-lures, and published numerous articles on the subject.