Overlooked in the history of graphic design – and specifically poster history – is the Swedish legacy. This did not go unnoticed by Paul Lipschutz, a collector with over 10,000 items in his collection, who in 1982 mounted “Street Spectacle Sweden,” an exhibit of many rare theater and film posters, in Minneapolis, New York and Philadelphia. Little remains of the show, but I recently found the catalog, sponsored by the Swedish Institute.
Amid the exquisite graphics were a number that exemplify illustrative minimalism. While stylistically consistent with the similar Object Posters and the Plakatstil of the early twentieth century, there are some decidedly original specimens too. Here for your perusal are posters by (from top to bottom)Einar Nerman (1916); Einar Nerman (1917); Anon (1940); R. Engströmer (1916); G. Magnusson (1932).
