The Empire Strikes Back 1980 French Grande Film GWTW Poster, Roger Kastel

The Empire Strikes Back -  Arguably the best film of the Star Wars saga, taking a darker direction. Roger Kastel's 'Gone with the Wind' design looks suitably powerful and dramatic in the large format for this French Grande film poster.

Roger Karl Kastel (1931 - 2023) the illustrator behind some of the most memorable movie poster images of all time. With a career that spanned over four decades, his best-known work included imagery central to the posters for Jaws and The Empire Strikes Back. He also illustrated vivid book covers for the likes of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives and W.G Wells’ The Invisible Man.

▼France has a long and rich history in poster design that dates back to the mid-19th century.... CLICK TO READ MORE

One of the most influential figures in the development of vintage posters was the French poster artist Jules Chéret. Around 1866, Chéret is credited with producing the first colour lithograph posters, using a technique he refined from the black and white process first invented by German actor and playwright Alois Senefelder in 1798. Cheret's three stone lithographic process allowed artists to achieve every colour in the rainbow using just three stones - usually red, yellow and blue - printed in careful registration.

The Parisian artists, headed by Cheret and including masters Steinlen, Willette, Grasset, Bonnard, Forain and, last but certainly not least, Toulouse-Lautrec's vibrant and eye-catching designs influenced, in part, by Japanese Woodcuts brought a new level of visual appeal to the streets of Paris and, in turn, established the poster as an art form.

The Belle Époque (Beautiful Era), a period of peace and frivolity in France from the late 19th to the early 20th century (1870-1914), played a significant role in the continued advancement of poster design. This era coincided with economic growth and the rise of a new middle class with disposable income and leisure time. It was during this time that the poster craze took hold in France, with posters being used for advertising various products, events, and entertainment.

Over the decades that followed from these auspicious beginnings French poster design continued to flourish and designers from around the world followed suit in experimenting with poster design for advertisements for cultural events, travel, film, food and drink and more.

This original vintage movie poster has been professionally linen-backed is sized an impressive 46 1/8 x 61 3/8 inches (plus a little more with the linen). It will be sent rolled (unframed).

• Year: 1980
  
• Poster Type: French Grande
  
• Style: -
• Art By:  Roger Kastel
  
• Rolled/Folded/Other: Rolled - Linen-backed
  
• Condition: Excellent/Near Mint
  
• Condition Details:  Touch-up to folds.