I · Travel poster
Autumn in Yunoyama Onsen
An old Japanese travel poster, red maples and golden hills. All the warmth of autumn, to explore further in our fall wall art guide.
30x40, 40x50, 50x70 cm
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Decor guide
Vintage Posters Why they are back in modern decor
Why old posters are returning to our walls, how to recognize a good one, and how to make it speak with a home of today.
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The centerpiece
Zodiac, Alphonse Mucha, 1896
A woman in profile, crowned with jewels, her golden hair spread before a great disc where the twelve signs of the zodiac turn. The title La Plume at the top, the golds and browns of an Art Nouveau lithograph, on thick matte eco-friendly paper.
- 30x40 cm12x16 in
- 40x50 cm16x20 in
- 50x70 cm20x28 in
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
Why are vintage posters back in modern decor?
Because in a world that changes at full speed, vintage has a rare power to reassure and to inspire. An old poster recalls a time when people took their time: train journeys, illustrated magazines, hand-painted advertising. Each image carried an intention, a graphic coherence that is rarely found in today's digital output.
This return belongs to a broader movement, emotional decor, which favors objects that carry a story. A vintage poster, with its slightly faded tones and its controlled imperfection, breaks the coldness of interiors that are too smooth.
1896
Alphonse Mucha · Zodiac
taken up by the review La Plume
taken up by the review La Plume
Mucha's Zodiac is the perfect example. Drawn in 1896 for the printer Champenois, the lithograph so pleased Léon Deschamps, editor of the review La Plume, that he made it his calendar for 1897. A commercial image that became one of the most famous of Art Nouveau, and has not aged a day.
How do you hang a vintage poster in a contemporary home?
The principle: create a dialogue between two eras by playing on contrast rather than erasing it. A thin, modern frame around an old image, a light wall to bring out its colors, and chosen neighbors: typography, photography or an abstract piece. Three measurements do the rest.
57
inches from the floor to the center of the poster
The standard gallery rule, about 57 in (145 cm), measured at the center of the piece and not at the hook. A vintage poster is read in detail: at eye level, you can make out its lettering and ornaments.
2/3
of the width of the furniture below it
Above a sideboard, a console or a sofa, the poster looks right when it covers about two thirds of its width. Narrower, it floats; wider, it overwhelms.
6
to 8 inches of air between the furniture and the bottom of the frame
About 15 to 20 cm: enough for the poster to breathe, little enough for it to stay connected to the furniture and form a single composition with it.
What exactly is a vintage poster?
It is an image designed to convey a story, a place, a season or an emotion, through graphic choices rooted in their time. Genuine period pieces are the best example. In 1856, the architect Owen Jones published The Grammar of Ornament, one hundred color plates recording the decorative patterns of the whole world.
Plate XXVI, an interlacing of deep blue flowers on a white ground, looks as though it was drawn yesterday: that is the whole secret of vintage done well.
Why do 19th-century botanical patterns suit today's homes so well?
Because their soft tones and floral compositions blend effortlessly into a current setting: light wood, linen, white walls. The patterns of William Morris, leader of the Arts & Crafts movement, prove it: born for wallpapers and textiles, they can hold an entire wall on their own.
Marigold unrolls its blue foliage over a pale ground: a calm piece that brings pattern without weight. The whole series is gathered in the William Morris collection.
Can an old print become the statement piece of a living room?
Yes, as long as its composition is strong. Clean lines and bold colors command the space without weighing it down: the poster becomes a piece of character that draws the eye without dominating the room.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Hokusai, is probably the most recognizable old image in the world. Its blue and its foam read from one end of the room to the other. More prints await in the Japanese woodblock prints collection.
Which other vintage posters should you choose?
A journey, a page from a novel, a poet's drawing: three ways to bring the past to your wall.
II · Marcel Proust
In Search of Lost Time
The madeleine page, set like a page from an old edition. Vintage at its purest: a memory that returns intact.
30x40, 50x70 cm
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III · Victor Hugo, draftsman
The Eddystone Lighthouse
A drawing in ink and brown wash, dated 1866. Its browns and ochres have the patina of an old engraving.
One size
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Why does a vintage poster gain from being large?
Because period posters were made to be seen from afar, on a wall or a hoarding. In 50x70 cm (20x28 in), the Zodiac recovers its scale: you can make out each sign in the disc, each lock of hair, each ornament of the drawn border.
Above a stack of books, a console or a flea-market chest of drawers, it gives the room a depth that ten small frames could not. If you would rather group several, our guide to composing a gallery wall will help.
Heure d'été edition
Food for eyes & soul.
See the literary printsFrequently asked questions
What is a vintage poster?
A poster that takes up the graphic codes of a past era, or comes directly from one: Art Nouveau posters, ornament plates, woodblock prints, travel posters. It tells of a place, a season or an emotion with colors and typography rooted in their time.
How do you pair a vintage poster with modern decor?
By playing on contrast: a thin, modern frame, a light wall, and contemporary neighbors such as typography, photography or an abstract piece. The old poster then becomes a piece of character rather than a period set.
What frame suits a vintage poster?
A thin frame, in natural wood or black, that sets off the image without competing with it. Overly ornate frames weigh down a poster that is already rich in ornament.
What does Mucha's Zodiac depict?
A woman in profile before a disc bearing the twelve signs of the zodiac. Alphonse Mucha drew it in 1896 for the printer Champenois; the review La Plume made it its calendar for 1897.
Which vintage poster makes a good gift?
One that speaks to the person: the Zodiac for an Art Nouveau lover, a William Morris pattern for a country house, the Proust page for a great reader. A gift idea that outlasts fashions, for Christmas as for a housewarming.
A vintage poster is a century that comes to sit in your living room. Choose the one you want to live with.
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