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Export of American Culture

Foreign posters tell the story of the export of American culture. Early in the twentieth century, such images as the Belgian double poster of cyclist Marshall (“Major”) Taylor and the German poster of heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, for instance, suggest the international appeal of sporting events and the universal admiration for great athletes that would become such an important part of twentieth-century global exchange.

Moving pictures developed at a moment when posters played a newly important role in urban culture, and the fledgling film industry saw their potential as a primary form of promotion. American films were typically advertised by poster art made in the country that imported them. The foreign posters generally conform to the celebrity images so carefully honed by the actors and their studios, helping us chart the international reputations of these individuals.

                
  Poster image   Poster image  
  Click to enlarge image Major Taylor
Marshall W. “Major” Taylor
Louis Galice, 1902
Color lithographic poster with relief printing
130 x 93.5 cm (51 3/16 x 36 13/16 in.)
National Portrait Gallery		   Click to enlarge image Champion-Match Johnson-Jeffries
Jack Johnson
Adolph Friedlander Lithography Company, c. 1910
Color lithographic poster
99.7 x 71.3 cm (39 1/4 x 28 1/16 in.)
National Portrait Gallery

 
           
  Poster image   Poster image    
  Click to enlarge image Chaplin Som Greve (Chaplin as Count)
Charlie Chaplin
Sven Brasch, 1918
Color linocut poster
87 x 63.2 cm (34 1/4 x 24 7/8 in.)
National Portrait Gallery		   Click to enlarge image Blixtens Broder (Brother of the Lightning)
William S. Hart
Gunnar Håkansson, 1922
Color lithographic poster
90.5 x 57.2 cm (35 5/8 x 22 1/2 in.)
National Portrait Gallery		  
           
  Poster image   Poster image    
  Click to enlarge image Buster Keaton L’Opérateur (The Cameraman)
Buster Keaton
Jean A. Mercier, c. 1928
Color lithographic poster
145.9 x 105.9 cm (57 7/16 x 41 11/16 in.)
National Portrait Gallery		   Click to enlarge image Greta Garbo in K?nigin Christine (Greta Garbo in Queen Christina)
Greta Garbo
A. M. Cay,  1934
Color lithographic poster
144.8 x 97.5 cm (57 x 38 3/8 in.)
National Portrait Gallery 		 
           
  Poster image        
  Click to enlarge image Trinidad
Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford
Anselmo Ballester, 1953
Color photolithographic halftone poster
197.9 x 140.2 cm (77 15/16 x 55 3/16 in.)
National Portrait Gallery		   next section Continue to The Product & The Promise