2022Modern Architecture and Design - Posters - Sheetlets

Although new technology has drastically changed the ways of modern communication, poster art still belongs to the most visually attractive media. Its appearance in the second half of the 19th century was conditioned not only by improvement of lithographic printing techniques, but also by the need for modern advertising in public space. The beginnings of poster art in Croatia are marked by a boom of culture production, and reminiscences of art nouveau stylization and effective linear compositions are evident. Among authors of distinctive individual expressions when it comes to the medium of posters from the beginning of the 20th century, Radovan Tommaseo (Split, 1895 - Split, 1924) stands out. After studying at the Craft School in Vienna, Tommaseo dedicated himself to interdisciplinary work upon his return to Split and was equally successful as a set designer, costume designer, associate of the Ethnographic Museum and lecturer at the Craft School. His works are a kind of trademark of Split’s visual culture in the early 1920s, from painting and graphics, caricatures, book and magazine equipment to applied art and posters. Tommaseo’s posters include the poster for Emanuel Vidović’s exhibition at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb (1921), which embodies elements of art nouveau and art deco. By skillfully superposing an image, i.e. motif of the Port of Split, its mirror reflection on the surface of the sea and the text, a visually powerful symbolic interpretation of the image and text was achieved.