Kassama Corn Original 1890s Maitres de l'Affiche (Beggarstaff)
Date: 1890s
Size: 11.5 x 15
Notes: Poster, Small Poster, Lithograph, Linen Backed
Artist: Beggarstaff Brothers
Information: For more details, please call 514 656 3301
About The Poster: According to encyclopedia.com 'Beggarstaff, J. & W.' (the ‘Beggarstaff Brothers'). Pseudonym used by the brothers-in-law William Nicholson and James Pryde for their poster designs. ‘They joined forces in 1894, and for the next five years they produced a series of posters which by their bold simplicity and clarity of design revolutionized certain aspects of poster art througout Europe … they presented the image in its starkest form; the background is stripped bare of unnecessary detail and the fullest use is made of the silhouette … Despite the brilliant originality of their work, or perhaps because of it, they received relatively few commissions and several of their designs never reached the hoardings’ ( Dennis Farr, English Art 1870–1940, 1978). Nicholson explained their choice of the name ‘Beggarstaff’ thus: ‘Pryde and I came across it one day in an old stable, on a sack of fodder. It is a good, hearty, old English name, and it appealed to us, so we adopted it immediately.’ They signed their work ‘J. & W. Beggarstaff'; in due course some people started referring to the ‘Beggarstaff Brothers', but the artists themselves did not care for this version.' This piece has been called one of the fore-runners of the modern poster - it is simple, it is elegant, and it has all the makings of a fine advertising print. Indeed, if it were to be presented today at an advertising meeting, there is little doubt it would be accepted for a print ad. The Maitre de l'affiche posters were a collection sent to poster aficionados and subscribers just before the turn of the last century (roughly 1896-1900). THIS IS AN ORIGINAL POSTER AND NOT A REPRODUCTION. IT IS PART OF THE COLLECTION OF THE MAITRE DE L'AFFICHE AND IS EMBOSSED WITH THE SEAL OF THE MAITRE. By the 1890s the streets of every great metropolis were enlivened by large colourful posters . The poster had not only caught the fancy of the broad public, but its best examples were already being regarded as works of art (specifically, as fine prints) to be exhibited, reviewed in journals, collected and reprinted in a manageable form. In the last five years of the century, the Imprimerie Chaix was to play great part in codifying, hallowing and perpetuating the ebullient period of 'La Belle Epoque.' It was in those years that the firm published 'Les Maitres de l'Affiche' (Masters of the Poster) reduced lithographic versions, in authentic colours, of the best posters of Europe and America, by more than 90 great artists, posters that bring the period to life.'
