Польська школа плаката

Abstract

From the early days of the Polish People’s Republic, poster was appreciated by the communist authorities as an effective propaganda tool. Censorship focused mainly on its political aspect, leaving it much freedom in the broad sphere of cultural topics. Those “favourable” conditions, which were not to be experienced by other art disciplines, turned poster into a synonym of liberty, and even of a certain artistic casualness, attracting illustrious artists, both from the older generation, and younger ones, bringing in their own freer presentation style. Created with graphic imagination and painterly freedom, featuring an intelligent joke, poster showed qualities that won it much appreciation throughout the world, creating an unprecedented phenomenon of international impact called the “Polish School of Poster”.