Poster Museum, Wilanów

Poster Museum at Wilanów

File:POL Warsaw Muzeum Plakatu.jpg
Established	1968
Location	10/16 St Kostki Potockiego Street, 02-958 Warsaw, Poland
Type	Art museum
Curator	Maria Kurpik
Website	Official Website

The Poster Museum at Wilanów (Polish: Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie) is the world's oldest poster museum. Founded in 1968, the museum is housed at the Wilanów Palace complex in Warsaw, Poland.

History

The Poster Museum at Wilanów is part of the National Museum in Warsaw. It was established through a grant of several thousand posters belonging to the National Museum, made by the Museum's Director, Stanislav Lorentz. The Poster Museum opened in June 1968, becoming the world's first museum dedicated to this art form.

At its founding, the Museum had 13,000 items in its collection, including around 500 posters preserved from the World War II era. Its collection is continually growing, through gifts from Polish and international donors.

During the mid-20th century, Polish interest in poster art, and poster collecting, grew substantially, influenced by the visual style of national filmmakers such as Andrzej Wajda. Collectors sought posters advertising films, plays, and musicals in particular. Warsaw's annual poster art competition gained a worldwide reputation, ultimately leading the founding of the Poster Museum in 1968.

The Poster Museum is housed in a modern exhibition space erected behind the historic Wilanów Palace, a 19th-century riding school located on the outskirts of Warsaw.

Collections

More than 55,000 posters are in the collections of the Poster Museum at Wilanów. 30,000 items represent the history of poster art in Poland from 1892 to 2002. The Poster Museum houses one of the world's largest collections of posters. The Museum rotates its collection through permanent exhibits on Polish poster art and history, foreign poster art, and thematic exhibits.

International Poster Biennale in Warsaw

The International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, which was launched in 1966, moved to the Museum in 1994, where it is still held every second year. The International Poster Biennale was the world's first poster biennale. Today, it attracts more than 2000 entries from around the globe when it is held.

The 23rd International Poster Biennale takes place in 2012.

See also

• Books on poster
• Graphic design
• Illustrations
• Mediascape
• Pin-up (disambiguation)
• Poster session
• Street Poster Art
• Swann Galleries

References

• Plakaty w zbiorach Muzeum Plakatu w Wilanowie ed. Maria Kurpik, Agata Szydłowska, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Warszawa 2008, pp. 293. ISBN 978-83-7100-865-8
• Maria Kurpik: Chopin - polski plakat, Wydawnictwo Bosz, Olszanica 2010, pp. 160. ISBN 978-83-7576-107-8
• Maria Kurpik: Polonia 1900-1939. Fondos del Museo del Cartel de Wilanów, Museo MuVIM, Valencia 2006, pp. 223. ISBN 978-84-935843-0-6
• L'Affiche Polonaise de 1945 à 2004. Des slogans et des signes, ed. Jean-Claud Famulicki, Maria Kurpik, La Decouverte, Paris 2005, pp. 192. ISBN 2-7071-4680-3