Newly Published Book at RIT is First Compact History of the American Poster
The first American poster Mark Resnick ever bought was by renowned designer Dorothy Waugh, created in 1934 to promote the national parks system. Now, 15 years later, Resnick and his wife Maura have assembled what may be the largest collection of American posters, spanning from 1890 to the present, outside of the Smithsonian Institution. The posters cover numerous themes, such as election campaigns, the nation’s war efforts, entertainment, travel and consumer products.
Supported by design, photography and printing experts from Rochester Institute of Technology, the Resnicks will for the first time share a key portion of their collection with the public. RIT’s Bevier Gallery will host an exhibition, The American Image: U.S. Posters from the 19th to the 21st Century, which is accompanied by a companion book of the same name.
Produced by the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, the book features full-color reproductions of the 78 posters from the Resnick Collection which are included in the exhibition. These posters range from design masterpieces to works of primarily historical value, from posters by renowned designers to those created anonymously, and from celebrated images to those never before published.
“The goal of the exhibition and the book is to create a snapshot of American poster making,” says Mark Resnick, executive vice president, business affairs, Twentieth Century Fox. “The American Image is much more than a catalog. It’s really a compact history of the American poster. Maura and I want to share that history with the public.”
The book includes Resnick’s preface and authoritative commentary on each of the 78 images, and an incisive essay on American poster design by RIT Vignelli Professor R. Roger Remington.
In addition to the Cary Graphic Arts Press, RIT’s School of Design, School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, and the Printing Applications Lab collaborated on the book’s production.
“RIT’s Cary Graphic Arts Press has done a fantastic job on this project,” says Resnick. “Their books are both handcrafted and technically masterful. Through university-wide collaborations, they bring to bear a unique combination of resources—design, photography, printing and editorial. The Press is a real gem within RIT and the entire academic community at large.”
The American Image can be purchased for $50 and is available online through the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press Web site at http://library.rit.edu/carypress. RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press is operated as a university press by the Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection at RIT, a renowned resource for those studying printing and graphic communications history, bookbinding, typography, papermaking, calligraphy and book illustration processes.