The first compact history of the American poster ― a unique resource for those who are fascinated by American history and popular culture: scholars, collectors, designers, and students. The “modern” American poster has figured prominently in virtually every major political, social, commercial, and cultural development in the country. With arresting images and text, these posters have informed and “sold” Americans on election campaigns, the nation's war efforts, protest movements, consumer products, travel, entertainment, etc. They also comprise a history of U.S. graphic design, reflecting dramatic changes in style, advertising theory, and printing, as well as the emergence of key graphic designers. The American Image provides a rare survey of this popular art, spanning more than one hundred years. Selected from the Resnick Collection, the book analyzes some 70 posters representative of every significant style and theme. They range from design masterpieces to works of historical value, from posters by renowned designers to those created anonymously, and from celebrated images to those never before published. This handsome book includes superb, full-color reproductions; an incisive essay on American poster design by R. Roger Remington; and a preface and authoritative commentary on each image by Mark Resnick.
Mark H. Resnick has deep experience in art, business, and law, in the non-profit and for-profit sectors alike. He has served in positions ranging from executive director (acting) of the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, director of strategic initiatives at Williams College Museum of Art, chief business executive for 20th Century Fox’s flagship film unit, chief lawyer for Sony Pictures’ film unit, and on arts-related boards including that of the Yale University Art Gallery and National Arts Strategies (board chair). He is an authority on the history of American graphic design, a field in which he curates, publishes, and lectures. He has recently returned to the consulting firm he founded in 2017, Resnick Arts and Culture Consulting. The firm advises museums, other cultural institutions, and their leaders on a wide range of matters, and counsels major collectors on the sale or donation of their collections.
R. Roger Remington is the Vignelli Distinguished Professor of Design Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. He is an experienced teacher, scholar and author with critical interests in graphic design history, research, archiving and interpretation of historical documents.
