The tradition of galleries publishing posters to promote their artists goes back to the early 1900s, if not earlier. The advent of offset printing made the process easier, and by the 1970s many of the more affluent galleries were printing posters as well as announcement cards. Here are some of the more interesting posters currently in the Gallery 98 inventory. More can be found in our special poster section.
Larry Rivers, Poster, Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles), 1965
Larry Rivers, Poster, Dwan Gallery (Los Angeles), 1965. Size: 15 x 17 inches
$450 – Inquire
Gallery 98 pays tribute here to famed gallerist Virginia Dwan (1931-2022) who died a few weeks ago. In the early 1960s Dwan was a pioneer in bringing leading New York artists to Los Angeles. She often allowed artists to design their own posters, as is the case of this one designed by Larry Rivers. You can see others on our Dwan Gallery page.
Robert Rauschenberg, Hoarfrost Series, Poster, Castelli Gallery & Sonnabend Gallery, 1974
Robert Rauschenberg, Hoarfrost Series, Poster, Castelli Gallery & Sonnabend Gallery, 1974. Size: 10.5 x 21 Inches
$450 – Inquire
The Castelli and Sonnabend galleries (Ileana Sonnabend and Leo Castelli were married although they ran separate galleries) were amongst the most active in promoting their artists with posters and other forms of ephemera. This portrait poster of Rauschenberg incorporates elements of his Hoarfrost Series, an exhibition of works often using transparent fabrics hung with pins on the wall.
John Baldessari, Poster, Sonnabend Gallery, 1987
John Baldessari, Poster, Sonnabend Gallery, 1987. Size: 26 x 33 inches
$250 – Inquire
In the 1980s the prolific and always evolving conceptual artist John Baldessari was experimenting with different ways to combine appropriated film stills and found photographs to suggest new narratives. The image on this poster is mysterious and slightly ominous. When Gallery 98 recently posted it on Instagram, it was removed.
New York: Ailleurs et Autrement, Holzer, Kruger, Lawler, Levine, Others, Poster, Paris Museum of Modern Art, 1985
New York: Ailleurs et Autrement, Holzer, Kruger, Lawler, Levine, Others, Poster, Paris Museum of Modern Art, 1985. Size: 16 x 24 inches
$150 – Inquire
There is not much information available about this 1985 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, but the list of artists featured on the poster — Holzer, Kruger, Lawler, Levine, McCollum, Prince, Rosler and Welling — were amongst the leaders of the new generation of conceptual artists that are now grouped together under the name “Pictures Generation.” The title of the exhibition in English is “New York: Elsewhere and Otherwise.”
Eve Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, Poster, Leo Castelli Gallery, 1987
Eve Arnold, Marilyn Monroe, Poster, Leo Castelli Gallery, 1987. Size: 14 x 21.25 inches
$250 – Inquire
Although there is no shortage of photographs of Marilyn Monroe, it is rare to find one by a woman photographer. Eve Arnold, the first woman to be accepted into the Magnum Agency for photojournalists, had a special sensitivity to the way women celebrities were portrayed. In selecting pictures for her 1987 book about Marilyn Monroe, she deliberately chose pictures of “the Marilyn she knew — not the Marilyn that the actress chose to display to the public-at-large.”
Richard Avedon, In The American West, Poster, Pace Gallery, 1986
Richard Avedon, In The American West, Poster, Pace Gallery/Pace MacGill, 1986.
Size: 23 x 35 Inches
$350 – Inquire
Richard Avedon was one of the first photographers to find success selling original prints in art galleries. This Pace Gallery poster promotes an exhibition of photographs from Avedon’s recently released book In the American West (1985). The striking portrait The Beekeeper was a deliberate, preconceived creation that began with Avedon placing an ad in a beekeeping journal to find a willing subject.
Andy Warhol, Vanitas Skulls and Self Portraits, Poster, Anthony d’Offay Gallery (London), 1995
Andy Warhol, Vanitas Skulls and Self Portraits, Poster, Anthony d’Offay Gallery (London), 1995. Size: 21 x 33 Inches
$225 – Inquire
Some posters have historical importance. Others like this poster for a posthumous Andy Warhol exhibition at the Anthony d’Offay gallery are appealing primarily for their evocative imagery and the quality of the printing and paper. Warhol’s skull paintings from the mid-1970s were inspired by the traditional theme of vanitas — the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures. The fact that the d’Offay exhibition also included portraits of Warhol who had died prematurely a few years earlier, instills the skulls with a more personal meaning.
Rain Dance: A Benefit for UNICEF, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Yoko Ono, Poster, 1985
Rain Dance: A Benefit for UNCIEF, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Yoko Ono, Poster, 1985. Size: 22.5 x 30.5 Inches
$900 – Inquire
Keith Haring was the force behind Rain Dance, a benefit exhibition and party for UNICEF’s African Emergency Relief Fund to aid famine victims in Ethiopia. For the exhibition and for this collaborative poster, Haring recruited Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Their signatures are incorporated into the print. There is also a limited edition of 100 posters signed by the participants.
