GRAPHIC ART AND POSTERS

The graphic art collection belongs for the most part to three major areas.
Ornamental engravings, which have been used by craftsmen since the 15th Century as templates, form the basis of the collection. Justus Brinckmann began to purchase ornamental engravings even before he founded the Museum and later donated them to it. It was also Brinckmann who set up the other two sections of the collection in the 1880s: commercial art (graphic design) and posters. This was later complemented by further forms of applied graphic art, from wallpaper to fans, and a substantial quantity of so-called “free” graphic art found its way into the collection - in particular the modern classics from Kokoschka to Picasso.

The poster collection has an outstanding selection of international work from Art Nouveau, from the period between the world wars, and the 1960s and 1990s. Particular emphasis are French Art Nouveau posters and political posters since the First World War; in addition there are Japanese posters of the last ten years as well as sizeable groups of work by individual artists, such as Ludwig Hohlwein (Munich), the brothers Stenberg (Moscow) and Tadanori Yokoo (Tokyo).

The very varied collection of commercial art starts way back in historical times with examples of Carolingian scrolls and goes up to printouts of contemporary websites. The book with its various design functions is the focus here, ranging from typography via layout up to the cover picture. An increasingly important role is being played by graphic art in advertising, which is not only an object for collection in poster form, but also as proofs of advertisements, brochures or internet presentations. The character of the collection is international. It is largely influenced by the estates of individual artists and by donations from designers and agencies.

For reasons of conservation, the individual exhibits are only on display for a limited period at a time.