Vintage Chinese Advertising Poster-Three Sisters Cigarettes

Poster. Good. No Binding. 20x30 inches [approx.], issued post 1950. Tin end strips.The soft, faded lines, intricate detailing, and the strange proportions of vintage Chinese posters might look strange to contemporary Western designers, especially when the idea of " good advertisement poster design" as taught in design schools has trended towards the minimalist in the past half a century. Pre-War Shanghai posters are as distinct a genre as anything that came out of Europe in the years between the 1880's through the 1930's. Unconventional and sloppy by Western standards, these unique works of advertising art are nevertheless a cultural treasure, not just for China, but the entire world. Originally intended as ephemeral promotions for the vast array of products that flooded China's newly opened economy, these ads have had a lasting influence in the region that could still be seen in some ways today. They are a fusion of oriental and occidental styles that is unprecedented. If you look at Chinese art from the late 19th century and Western Art Nouveau and Art Deco from the 1880's through the 1920's, it's clear that these posters were heavily influenced by those styles. Shanghai, already a large international economic center back then in the 1920's, was ground zero for these varied and often risque advertisements. A nice poster that has some repaired tears..