The Lady from Shanghai 1948 French Grande Style A Film Poster, Constantin Belinsky

Impossibly rare and incredibly beautiful original first-year-of-release French Grande Style A film poster for Orson Welles' 1940s classic The Lady from Shanghai.

In film noir The Lady from Shanghai, fascinated by gorgeous Mrs. Bannister (Rita Hayworth), seaman Michael O'Hara (Orson Welles) joins a bizarre yachting cruise, and ends up mired in a complex murder plot.

Constantin Belinsky (1904-1999) Painter and sculptor of Ukrainian origin, Belinsky moved to Paris in 1925 and began a career as a film poster designer in 1930. He was a prolific designer, creating thousands of poster designs over a career spanning more than forty years, each featuring his unmistakably style of bold, beautiful and sumptuously coloured designs. He is responsible for some of the most glorious French movie posters, including, amongst others, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Lady from Shanghai and the Bride of Frankenstein.

▼France has a long and rich history in poster design that dates back to the mid-19th century.... CLICK TO READ MORE

One of the most influential figures in the development of vintage posters was the French poster artist Jules Chéret. Around 1866, Chéret is credited with producing the first colour lithograph posters, using a technique he refined from the black and white process first invented by German actor and playwright Alois Senefelder in 1798. Cheret's three stone lithographic process allowed artists to achieve every colour in the rainbow using just three stones - usually red, yellow and blue - printed in careful registration.

The Parisian artists, headed by Cheret and including masters Steinlen, Willette, Grasset, Bonnard, Forain and, last but certainly not least, Toulouse-Lautrec's vibrant and eye-catching designs influenced, in part, by Japanese Woodcuts brought a new level of visual appeal to the streets of Paris and, in turn, established the poster as an art form.

The Belle Époque (Beautiful Era), a period of peace and frivolity in France from the late 19th to the early 20th century (1870-1914), played a significant role in the continued advancement of poster design. This era coincided with economic growth and the rise of a new middle class with disposable income and leisure time. It was during this time that the poster craze took hold in France, with posters being used for advertising various products, events, and entertainment.

Over the decades that followed from these auspicious beginnings French poster design continued to flourish and designers from around the world followed suit in experimenting with poster design for advertisements for cultural events, travel, film, food and drink and more.

This original vintage movie poster has been professionally linen-backed is sized an impressive 46 1/2 x 63 inches (plus a little more with the linen). It will be sent rolled (unframed).

• Year: 1948
  
• Poster Type: French Grande
  
• Style: -
• Art By:  Constantin Belinsky
  
• Rolled/Folded/Other: Rolled - Linen-backed
  
• Condition: Excellent/Near Mint
  
• Condition Details: Linen slightly wavy, light touch-up to folds and margins. Very tiny water marking on left hand margin. Paper darkened with age and light foxing. Really fabulous condition for its age and rarity.