Broadway Poster Art : 1945–1969
By Nicholas van Hoogstraten
Schiffer Publishing
ISBN: 9780764367519
$59.99

Our first pick today in The 2024 PopCult Gift Guide is a lovely coffee table book dedicated to vintage Broadway posters. It’s a great gift for fans of Broadway and fans of mid-century commercial art.

Broadway Poster Art : 1945–1969 is a visual bonanza that shines the spotlight on 750 striking advertising posters for the musicals and plays of Broadway’s golden age and shares untold behind-the-scenes stories.

Fans of the theatre will be thrilled to discover the original posters for hundreds of Broadway’s (and off-Broadway’s) biggest and most beloved hits, including My Fair Lady, The Fantasticks, Hello, Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Death of a Salesman, A Raisin in the Sun, and A Streetcar Named Desire—plus rare and striking designs that tried in vain to sell some of the era’s epic flops.

In addition to being an important resource, this book is a fun read thanks to the inclusion of previously untold stories of the men and women behind the shows and the art. Book highlights include:

Readers will encounter a treasure trove of masterpieces by the theatreʼs best illustrators, designers, photographers, and graphic artists, including Charles Addams, Peter Arno, Saul Bass, Eileen Darby, Whitney Darrow Jr., Hap Hadley, Al Hirschfeld, and David Klein

There are also never-before-seen artist progressions from conception to completion, as well as alternate and rejected designs. There’s a section filled with facts and legends about the productions, and a look at how the posters were used around the city.

This is a wonderful coffee table book sized package, at 9 x 12″, with over 300 pages and 700 photographs.

Broadway Poster Art : 1945–1969 is the deepest dive ever into this colorful corner of American show business, this opus boasts an appeal that goes far beyond just poster fans. Broadway Poster Art: 1945–1969 is a must-have for anyone with a love of the performing arts, graphic design, entertainment history, and Broadway’s golden age.

You can order it from any bookseller using the ISBN code, directly from The Publisher, or at a slight discount from Amazon.