Names like Mascii, Roger Soubie, Lenica, Peron, Ballester, and many others are
associated with great poster design. Some collectors will collect
posters simply for the artist's work. They may have no interest
in the film whatsoever.
Remember that foreign posters will often have titles that are not
in English. So Captain Blood becomes Capitaine Blood
in France as Les Enfants du Paradis becomes Children of
Paradise in the U.S. Somehow Casablanca just remains
Casablanca in almost any language.
Condition.
Questions of condition are basic to movie poster collecting. People describe condition differently. I'm not going to try to define these labels like "very fine", "good", "near
mint" etc. The fact is: What is very fine to one person may be only very good to another. A poster described casually as being in good condition may be very fine to you. The best way to assure that the poster is in the condition you require is to see it. The second
best way to deal with someone who has a reputation for being fair. A fair person knows that condition is a factor. Ask the person to describe a poster to you in detail. Is there any paper loss? Are there any tears or fold separations? Are there stains or watermarks? Are there any marks or writing or imprintations on the poster? Is it brittle? This is the way to assure getting a poster in a condition that you can live with, NOT mincing words about very fine, excellent, very good, near mint, fair, poor etc. If you order a poster mail order you should be able to return it if the condition doesn't satisfy you. Period. If the seller says he won't tolerate a return, you have no one but yourself to blame if you don't like the condition of a poster when you get it mail order. Many fears about condition can be avoided altogether by simply dealing with someone who understands your requirements and offers you full money back satisfaction.
Restorations.
An entire article longer than this one could be written about poster restoration. Restoration is the attempt to upgrade and improve the condition of a poster through paper conservancy techniques. A good paper conservator is a skilled worker, an artisan. He attempts to extend the life of a poster by:
- washing and removing acids and pollutants from the paper.
- strengthening and improving the appearance of the
paper through special mounting techniques.
- if needed, cosmetizing defects in a poster by overpainting
areas which may be missing.
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