As we unfurled these canvases we realised we had something special; graphic, vibrant, commercial pop art from 1960s West German, all hand painted with the precision of fine art. I had to find out more.
Known as filmplakate, these are massive, hand-painted, temporary cinema facade banners designed to attract the attention of passersby - canvas billboards. It is worth remembering in 1950s and 60s West Germany cinema was the primary source of public entertainment. Filmplakate was a specialised artform belonging to a highly elite circle of industrial artists. These master painters did not create small layouts for a printing press; they painted directly onto vast, durable fabrics transforming the frontages of West German cinemas into public spectacles.
Surviving filmplakate in good condition are very rare, firstly they were hung outdoors and had to survive the weather, secondly they were transported around on a rental system from one cinema to another being rolled and unrolled on a weekly basis, and lastly they were often painted over when a film’s run had come to an end.
These designs were only found in West German cinemas, enhancing the rarity and uniqueness of these artworks. The West German distributors designed the banners specifically to appeal to their cinemas and audiences, often rejecting the aesthetic and designs adopted in other countries of the film’s release.
The visual style of these artworks is shaped by two fundamental factors; its large scale and the outdoor environment. The material of the banners plays a huge part in the unusual aesthetic quality, there is visible grain to the underlying canvas overlaid with bold expressive brushwork.
The banners often rely on a high contrast “pop” palette with flat contrasting colours to give maximum street visibility under theatre lights. The typography is in keeping with German modernism of the 1950s and 60s, rejecting standard title alignment and using the text to enhance the dynamism of the piece. We then have high impact, hyper-stylised star portraits with distorted anatomy, the distortion is calculated so the composition looks proportional when viewed from the street. All together this creates a striking piece of eye catching commercial art.
Little is known about the highly skilled artists that created these pieces, very few filmplakate are signed, the majority were produced by studio teams based in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. We have a number signed F.P.V., Film-Plakate-Verleih, a painting hall based in Weilmunster, where artists like Rudi Czech painted. These artists considered themselves tradesmen rather than artists. Working to deadlines, they would scale up a tiny black and white film still into huge weather resistant colour canvases.
I am hugely admiring of the skill that has gone into creating this fine art, it captures a moment in time that has since been overtaken by modern printing processes and materials. There is however something quite special about these forgotten artworks created by people who regarded themselves as tradesmen rather than the artists they were.
View our collection of filmplakate here.
