Victor Bicycles - 1899

VINTAGE FRENCH POSTER - GICLÉE PRINT

This vintage poster is an example of "Affiche Artistique" produced by Will Bradley for the Overman Wheel Company titled "Victor Bicycles".  The design was published in 1899.

Dimensions:  24" x 16"

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:

Will H. Bradley
American, (1868 – 1962)

Will Bradley was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  His printing skills took shape after his father died and he moved to Ishpeming, Michigan were he was taken on by the “Iron Agitator” as a printer’s devil.  Bradley later worked for the J. Manz engraving company in Chicago and the Rand McNally Company.  He then began work as a printer for the Knight & Leonard Printing Company before setting out on his own as a freelance designer.  His cover designs for the American publication “Inland Printer” were quite popular.  His typeface design of the Chistmas 1895 issue was picked up by the American Type Founders.  They licensed the lettering design calling it “Bradley”.

Bradley’s posters were exhibited internationally in the late 1800s.  He designed and printed several books and established the Wayside Studio.  From 1903 until 1905 Bradley served as art director for the American Type Founders, designing typefaces, borders and ornaments.  In 1910 he established Will Bradley Studios, concentrating on magazine covers.  Bradley designed covers and typographic layouts for “Century” magazine.  He designed typefaces for “Delineator” magazine and “Hearst’s International”.  He also was an art director for early William Randolph Hearst films as well as numerous independent films.