The French New Wave, or La Nouvelle Vague is one of the most important movements in film history. Its fresh energy and vision changed the cinematic landscape during the 50s and 60s and greatly impacted pop culture. The new wave of cinematic auteurs was on the rise and pushed back on the traditional form of filmmaking, instead focusing on social realism, experimentation, and depicting everyday life through the lens.
At the forefront of this movement were French directors François Truffaut, Francoise Bonnot, Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, and Jean-Luc Godard who pushed visual and stylistic techniques. These included a move away from traditional storytelling by applying nonlinear narrative techniques, jump cuts, and handheld cameras that impacted cinema around the world and influenced a new movement of cinema in the United States.
This volume French New Wave: A Revolution in Design celebrates the groundbreaking poster art in selling these Nouvelle Vague films to the masses and the artists involved were at the forefront of a revolution in art, graphic design, and photography. The book is organized around the designers and emphasizes the key contributions of Eastern, Western European, and Japanese designers.
Each decade before the 1950s took inspiration from popular movements as inspiration for artwork on poster designs. The 1920s and 30s were inspired by Art Deco and Art Nouveau, while the 40s had no distinctive theme in the design. The Second World War brought paper and ink shortages which impacted the design but it was the 1950s that saw a drastic change to creative experimental graphic design.
Scroll down to take a look at some of the creative works for posters from Hisamitsu Hoguchi’s design for The 400 Blows (1950) and Peter Strausfeld’s design for Breathless (1960) and many more that were groundbreaking for their time and still inspire today.
French New Wave: A Revolution in Design by Tony Nourmand, Graham Marsh and Christopher Frayling is published by Reel Art Press.
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WINDA NA SZAFOT (ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS), 1958
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Ascenseur pour l’échafaud bdesigned by Jan Lenica.
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LES QUATRE CENTS COUPS (THE 400 BLOWS), 1959
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Japanese one sheet Hisamitsu Hoguchi.
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A FEKETE ORFEUSZ (BLACK ORPHEUS), 1959
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Hungarian one sheet by Lajos Görög.
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À BOUT DE SOUFFLE (BREATHLESS), 1960
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection French half sheet, style A, first printing ‘Godart’ Clément Hurel.
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À BOUT DE SOUFFLE (BREATHLESS), 1960
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Artist’s proof for British quad sheet by Peter Strausfeld.
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LE TESTAMENT D’ORPHÉE (TESTAMENT OF ORPHEUS),1960
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Le Testament d’Orphée (1960), French mini sheet Jean Cocteau
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TIREZ SUR LE PIANISTE (SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER), 1960
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection French one sheet by Jouineau Bourduge.
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ZAZIE DANS LE MÉTRO, 1960
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection German one sheet by Bruno Rehak.
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LOLA, 1961
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Polish one sheet by Maciej Hibner.
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UNE FEMME EST UNE FEMME (A WOMAN IS A WOMAN), 1961
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection German one sheet by Hans Hillmann.
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LE MÉPRIS (CONTEMPT) 1963
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Polish one sheet by Janusz Rapnicki.
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LE MÉPRIS (CONTEMPT) 1963
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection French one sheet by Georges Allard.
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LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG (THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG), 1964
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Japanese horizontal one sheet by Kazuo Kamimura.
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APLHAVILLE, 1965
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Polish one sheet by Andrzej Krajewski.
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APLHAVILLE, 1965
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Alphaville (1965), Argentinian one sheet by Pino Milas.
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UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME (A MAN AND A WOMAN), 1966
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection French one panel by René Ferracci.
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UNA STORIA AMERICANA (MADE IN USA), 1966
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Italian four sheet by Angelo Cesselon
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FAHRENHEIT 451, 1966
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection Hungarian one sheet by György Kemény
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LA CHINOISE, 1967
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection La Chinoise (1967), Japanese one sheet Kiyoshi Awazu
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DEUX OU TROIS CHOSES QUE JE SAIS D’ELLE (TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER), 1967
Image Credit: French New Wave Collection French one sheet by René Ferracci.
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French New Wave Collection
Image Credit: Reel Art Press French New Wave: A Revolution in Design by Tony Nourmand, Graham Marsh and Christopher Frayling is published by Reel Art Press.