Today in Smithsonian History: April 25, 1969

Boston Sunday Herald, Feb. 24, 1895, newspaper poster. The first poster designed by artist Ethel Reed.

April 25, 1969 “The American Poster” opens at the National Collection of Fine Arts, now the National Museum of American Art. The extensive exhibition traces the history of the poster in the United States. It focuses on three periods in American poster history: a collecting craze in the 1890s; World War I, which produced patriotic posters of unequalled force and vigor; and the post-World War II period when poster art by well-known painters became fashionable. Among the contemporary artists represented are Andy Warhol, Ben Shahn, Saul Steinberg, Norman Rockwell and Saul Bass.

“Can You Pass the Acid Test?” poster, 1960s
With this poster, Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters invited other free-thinkers to explore the mind-altering effects of LSD, popularly known as acid. (Gift of Ken Kesey)

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