UNKNOWN ARTIST The Artist’s Parents, 1981

Les Réalismes 1919–1939, Die Eltern des Künstlers

Original Exhibition Poster, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1980

This original exhibition poster was produced for Les Réalismes 1919–1939, a major historical exhibition presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris from December 17, 1980 through April 20, 1981. The exhibition examined the resurgence of figurative painting in Europe between the two World Wars, exploring movements such as New Objectivity, social realism, and metaphysical painting.

The poster reproduces a psychologically charged interwar realist composition, characterized by precise modeling, restrained emotion, and quiet symbolic tension. The figures’ composed gestures and introspective expressions reflect the intellectual and cultural climate of Europe during the period between 1919 and 1939, when artists re-engaged with representation following early modernist experimentation.

Designed with the clarity and typographic rigor associated with early Pompidou exhibition graphics, the poster exemplifies museum printmaking of the pre-digital poster era, when institutional exhibitions produced finely printed works intended both for promotion and lasting cultural documentation.

Today, the poster stands as an important artifact of modern art scholarship and Paris museum culture, representing a pivotal reassessment of twentieth-century realism.

Framing available upon request.