Introducing the Rene Wanner Research Library

Rene Wanner was a prolific Swiss poster collector and poster historian. His incredible 3,000-volume library on posters and related subjects was donated to Poster House by the Wanner family in 2018.

Starting this month, the Rene Wanner Research Library, along with Poster House’s own collection of volumes, will be available for reference use on site and can be visited by appointment during library hours on Thursdays and Fridays between 11am and 4pm. To learn how to schedule an appointment and for additional information, check out our FAQ page. 

Curious about what you can find in the Rene Wanner Research Library? Who better to ask than the two staff members who helped organize it? Read on to learn about some of the cataloged favorites of Poster House’s Susie Benanti and Joyce Cruz.

Le Dolomiti nei manifesti

Who’s ready for vacation? Travel to the Dolomite Mountains of Italy and get lost in the playful and nostalgic poster art of Franz J. Lenhart and his contemporaries from the early to mid-20th century. Le Dolomiti nei manifesti (The Dolomites in Posters, 1990) by Roberto Festi and Eugenio Manzato features more than one hundred pages of glorious mountain scenery. Highlights include speeding automobiles on treacherous cliffs, a polar bear carrying a ski and smoking a pipe, and a village, La Perla, in the shape of an oyster. 

–Susie

Chopin: Poster Affiche Plakate

For all of you classical-music lovers out there, listen to Chopin’s Nocturne in C minor and marvel at the equally lyrical moments in the posters found in Chopin: Poster Affiche Plakate (2010) by Maria Kurpik. Concert hall, music festival, and exhibition posters make up this exquisite oversize book published in Poland.

–Susie

The Art Directors Club of New York 32nd Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art

This one by Martin Stevens is a feast for the eyes! If you love vintage and especially mid-century posters, this book from 1953 is for you. Oh, and there are also literary delights from newspapers, magazines, and direct mail—and, of course, posters! In this annual, you’ll find legendary modernist designer Paul Rand’s posters for the “El Producto” cigar company.

–Susie

Finland, I Affischer

I highly recommend Finland, I Affischer (Finland, The Posters, 1993), a collection of bold, imaginative, and varied posters from the land of Marimekko, published by the Finnish Tourist Board. Fall in love with Tove Jansson’s Moomins to Finnair’s planes depicted as flying fish. As you admire each designer’s unique artistic vision in this paperback gem, you’ll soon get why this country is the happiest place on earth. 

–Susie

Mexico: The Land of Charm

The introduction to Mexico: The Land of Charm (2021) immediately drew my attention because it so clearly explains the evolution of the symbols that represent Mexico. This book of modern Mexican ephemera, ranging from postage stamps to posters, beautifully presents aspects of the country in works as different as a green, monochrome, art deco travel poster and an illustration of a charro cowboy riding a horse. Looking through it reminds me how proud I am of my diverse and beautiful culture!

–Joyce

Mission Gráfica: Reflecting a Community in Print

Mission Gráfica (2022), by Art Hazelwood, brilliantly demonstrates how much can be achieved by a united community of local artisans. Starting in 1982 as a small community screenprint shop, Mission Gráfica has opened its doors since then to any San Francisco resident who wants to work creatively.The book presents some of the different ways in which the community’s artists have used screenprint, from images advocating for farmworkers to promoting a local comedy group. I definitely recommend checking it out and seeing how creative a community can be!

–Joyce

First Ladies of the Poster: The Gold Collection

As I flip through the book, I see posters that look as if they are illustrations to a fairytale. As I begin to read about them, I’m surprised to discover that these incredibly sophisticated posters are only advertising things like cocoa powder and biscuits. In Laura Gold’s First Ladies of the Poster: The Gold Collection (2004) you can see some of the amazing Belle Époque and Art Nouveau posters from her private collection. The new, modern women in them look whimsical and elegant but Gold also describes their independence and confidence.

–Joyce

Ferne Länder, Ferne Zeiten: Sehnsuchtsfläche Plakat

As I look through the posters in Ferne Länder, Ferne Zeiten Sehnsuchtsfläche Plakat (Distant Places, Distant Times: Posters as a Place of Longing, 2024) and consider the many possible forms of transportation, I feel like I’m in Jules Verne’s adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Like Phileas Fogg, I’m jumping into a train at Cairo one minute, then sledding down a slope in Munich. This catalogue from a recent exhibition at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany will certainly encourage you to broaden your horizons when planning your next vacation!

–Joyce