Best Vintage Art Lithographs & Posters for Modern Design Inspiration

Inspiration for new artwork, design and architecture can be found in many classic and ancient works of art. Modern art and mid century modern design has evolved from a collection of works and their creators. One major artistic medium influencing this genre of contemporary design includes classic lithographs and posters made for the purpose of influence, advertising or promotion in mind.

The Salon Rose Croix was a poster designed for a series of six art and music salons in the 1890s in Paris.

The Comedie Parisienne, La Loïe Fuller Dans Sa Création Nouvelle, Salomé was a poster design for a theater in Paris created in the 1900s.

 

The poster is designed for the First International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Italy.

The A.E.G – Metallfadenlampe was designed for a German general electricity company in the early 1900s.

 

The Tropon, l’Aliment Le Plus Concentré was a poster designed to advertise an egg-based protein extract in Germany.

The Bil aktie Bol was a poster designed for a car company in 1907 in Sweden.

Shown in the examples above, advertising became its own art form and many of the vintage posters and classic lithographs influenced and shaped some the most famous mid-century, modern and contemporary art works, sculptures and furniture designs we see today.