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W H E N T H E E Y E K N O W S
Art in the Movie Posters
Movie posters are as old as the movies. Created and used as a marketing tool to promote newly released motion pictures, they would normally be displayed at the entrance of a movie theater or pasted on billboards. American movie posters can be found in various sizes with the most popular size measuring 27 inches in width by 41 inches in height and referred to as a one-sheet poster.
Other sizes were also printed such as an insert (14x36in.), half-sheet (22x28in.), 3-sheet (41x81in.). There are also larger posters such as 6-sheet (81x81in.) and 24-sheet (102-228in.) which are very rare due to their size, low production number and low survival rate as once pasted on a billboard or a wall, they could not be removed and recycled.
These larger posters, when and if found unused, can be quite valuable. There is a conservation and preservation process required that any serious collector must follow. That process is known as linen-mounting or linen-backing.
European movie posters can be more desirable and harder to find. Reputable artists would often execute stunning images hence rendering the poster much more memorable than the movie itself and are often plate signed by the artist. French and Italian posters are also larger in size than their american counterpart.
The average size for a french movie poster is 43 by 67in. while that for an italian poster is 39x55in. referred to as a 2-foglio or 2-sheet. There is also an italian 4-foglio or 4-sheet that measures 78x55 and can be quite impressive and commanding when mounted on linen and framed for display.
Bob Peak (“My Fair Lady”) , Richard Amsel (“The Sting”), Saul Bass (“Bonjour Tristesse”) and Norman Rockwell (‘The Razor’s Edge”) are all american illustrators responsible for some of the most beautiful movie posters and highly sought after by collectors for their artistic qualities.
French illustrator Boris Grinsson and italian illustrator Angelo Cesselon also executed stunning movie posters.
Raymond Moretti, a french artist well known for his abstract paintings, was commissioned to create a poster for the obscure 1977 american horror movie “The Car” or “Enfer Mécanique” starring James Brolin.
