CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/29/2019

New Release! 'French New Wave: A Revolution in Design'

This 1965 poster for Jean-Luc Godard's dystopian sci-fi thriller Alphaville was produced by painter, illustrator, comic and collage artist Andrzej Krajewski for the Polish release of the film. It is reproduced from staff favorite Holiday Gift Book, French New Wave: A Revolution in Design, featuring over 150 posters from more than 20 countries, organized A–Z by designer. "As a mass medium in Poland, the poster was under state censorship yet the individual artist had a remarkable degree of creative freedom," Alison Elangasinghe writes. "The poster as artform flourished in Poland from the mid-1950s onwards. Free of capitalist constraints, images of the stars—usually a big selling point in the West—were subordinated to highly original concepts. This 'Polish poster school' of artists that emerged effectively turned the street into their own gallery. Designs were striking and colorful; often disturbing and surreal; frequently poetic and humorous, with a vitality in stark contrast to the turgid backdrop of the Eastern Bloc."