The Collection

• Strategic Significance
• The Scope
• The Origin
• Global Interest
• Artists Summary
• The Artists
• Collection Management
• Collection References
• Worldwide Museum Coll.
• Recent Exhibitions *
• Martin Rosenberg PhD Bio
• Full Prospectus (pdf)

The Scope

Poland's academies of fine art and design drew the country’s most passionate art students. The competition to become a recognized artist was heavily dependent on establishing a presence in poster design. Cultural posters advertising film, theater, music, dance, sports, exhibitions and virtually all-public programs were produced in relatively small numbers to satisfy the number of locations where they would be displayed in public places.

These posters were not made for sale. Under Communist rule private art galleries were not permitted. Enterprising collectors in Poland and elsewhere in Europe and Scandinavia secured a poster from lithographic printers---others were destroyed by being pasted on walls or fences for public display.

Paper and ink was expensive so there were no stockpiles of extra posters as was common in European countries where product-advertising posters were produced. Both the limited production and the fragility of the paper seriously impacted survival of posters from the great period of 1945-1980. The Rosenberg Collection preserved the most noteworthy works from this period with artist, subject and condition paramount in selecting the best of the best.

All the globally recognized Polish artists are represented in the Collection---with special emphasis on those whose works won international awards, appeared in solo and group shows in museums and educational institutions and whose careers spanned the decades producing the most innovative and powerful examples of poster design.

Martin Rosenberg’s research and personal interviews of art critics, curators, collectors and artists shaped the high quality and balance of this Collection.