3 Images

Fly Now: The National Air and Space Museum Poster Collection

Throughout their history, posters have been a significant means of mass communication, often with striking visual effect. Wendy Wick Reaves, the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Curator of Prints and Drawings, comments that "sometimes a pictorial poster is a decorative masterpiece-something I can't walk by without a jolt of aesthetic pleasure. Another might strike me as extremely clever advertising … But collectively, these 'pictures of persuasion,' as we might call them, offer a wealth of art, history, design, and popular culture for us to understand. The poster is a familiar part of our world, and we intuitively understand its role as propaganda, promotion, announcement, or advertisement."

Reaves' observations are especially relevant for the impressive array of aviation posters in the National Air and Space Museum's 1300+ artifact collection. Quite possibly the largest publicly-held collection of its kind in the United States, the National Air and Space Museum's posters focus primarily on advertising for aviation-related products and activities. Among other areas, the collection includes 19th-century ballooning exhibition posters, early 20th-century airplane exhibition and meet posters, and twentieth-century airline advertisements.

The posters in the collection represent printing technologies that include original lithography, silkscreen, photolithography, and computer-generated imagery. The collection is significant both for its aesthetic value and because it is a unique representation of the cultural, commercial and military history of aviation. The collection represents an intense interest in flight, both public and private, during a significant period of its technological and social development.

Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.

Object Details

Date

circa 1932

Country of Origin

Japan

Type

ART-Posters, Original Art Quality

Medium

Poster, Advertising, Commercial Aviation

Physical Description

Regular Air Service Between Japan and Manchukuo. Black, white, red, blue, yellow and green print advertises air travel between Japan and Manchuria. Top half is a white background with a black and white image of a plane flying in front of a red sun. Bottom half on a yellow background consists of a Manchurian flag at top left and a schematic route map in blue and red with dots denoting stops. Characters at right in black, blue, and red. Characters at bottom in green with additional small print at bottom left; Relief Halftone/Screen print.

Dimensions

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 53.7 × 38.1cm (1 ft. 9 1/8 in. × 1 ft. 3 in.)

Inventory Number

A19970346001

Credit Line

Found In Collection. Donor Unknown at this Time. Found on NASM Premises.

Data Source

National Air and Space Museum

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.