Multiple-colored posters first appeared on the streets in Europe in the 1880’s, and became especially popular beginning in the 1890’s. Many posters were displayed on the exteriors of buildings for passersby to see. Posters were like a visual museum in the streets, and people began to collect them and save them. As a general rule, Europeans always collected far more than Americans. Many of the printers of posters saved a quantity of posters from each design as an archive. As posters became more popular, printers began to sell individual copies to private people. The companies who commissioned the posters would often preserve the unused portion of each print run hoping to use the posters later. The artist of each poster was normally given a small bundle of posters of their design as a courtesy.
As a dealer, we look to those collectors around the globe who want to divest, we seek out companies who may have old posters left in their inventory, occasionally artists’ families will have some older posters for us to buy. We also seek out estates where there may be posters. Lastly, since we have been in business over 25 years, we will purchase posters from our clients whose tastes, décor, or lifestyles may have changed. With the openness that the internet provides to us, we are constantly searching for new sources as well as responding to offers from people around the world.
