Art in posters – an art form from another era.

Art, I always say, has different forms of expression, whether in oil paintings, acrylics, watercolors, textile art, music, poetry, everything is art, but sometimes I find types of art that may have been forgotten, or that are not given much importance today, but in other times were something amazing.

That is why I like to bring here what amazes me during my visits to exhibitions in different galleries.

I had already seen something similar in the city's museum of arts and customs, but never related to cinema and a particular artist, but rather to the city's fair. I am talking about art in posters, that art that is so old and often forgotten.

Throughout history, posters have been made for different types of events, including cinema. Films were advertised through this type of art, which was often hand-painted.

This exhibition, of which I have taken photographs of each work, each poster, because each one deserves to be seen and appreciated, was held to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Juanita Reina. According to the poster or writing on the wall of the exhibition hall, she has been an essential figure in the history of Spanish copla and cinema.

I was able to enjoy original movie posters referring to different films that this actress starred in during her time, which were created by renowned graphic artists such as Peris Aragó, Rafael Raga Montesinos, and others.

All the pieces are very well preserved despite the passing of time and were created for promotional purposes and for a short period of time, as a way of advertising these films, and some of them had several posters.

The aesthetics are amazing, the fine art of that era. Cinema is art in its essence, and combined with this way of promoting films, it becomes something wonderful.

This art exhibition was made possible thanks to a local collector, Lucio Romero, who has preserved these beautiful and artistic legacies. However, this is only a small part of a large collection of more than 3,000 posters.

Two rooms were dedicated to displaying each of them. One room only had posters, while the other also included part of Juanita Reina's life and her film career. I will soon bring you that other room, which is not to be missed.

As I walked around, I thought about this form of advertising, which has been lost or modified over time, a form that carried its perfection and technique and that made these films visually engraved in people's memories and showed the career of a very renowned artist in Spain. The same has surely happened with many other actors of the time, and these posters could be, and in fact were, used for many other important events.

The graphics are magnificent, combined with the typography, composition, colors, and contrasts, giving the visual impact that was needed at the time to invite people to go to the cinema. Now this is part of an artistic legacy that has remained in the memory of many and, through this exhibition, can be brought to many other people who did not live at that time, like me, and I am grateful for that. I want to tag @jcrodriguez, who loves cinema, good cinema, and probably understands this subject.