When a new intern or employee starts at the gallery, we ask them to write a blog post with their top ten poster picks. It’s always interesting to see what they like and why, and I figure it give’s our readers insight into both our staff and our collection.

But I realized that I haven’t written a Top Ten entry in a while, and because our collection is constantly evolving, it might be time for me to do so. Et, voila!

Miss Amanda tells me that this Mauzan restrike is actually not a restrike at all. This poster, printed in 1998 was inspired by a maquette that Mauzan produced for a poster that was never printed in his lifetime. (Amanda does great research!) So while we do not usually sell restrikes, we do love Mauzan, and this poster is just too perfect not to have in the gallery… (we also have a variety of Mauzan maquettes – just search our site with the key word “Mauzan”)

I’ve most likely highlighted this Paul Colin poster in other blog posts – it might be one of my favourites of his. It’s over-size, splendiferous and the colours really pop. I think it would look great in an office, a kitchen, a bar or restaurant, or … maybe my dining room. (Just might take this guy home with me…)

In terms of great old maritime posters, Le Goudron Perouse is working its way into my heart. An over-size, horizontal two-sheet poster from 1908, it features longshoremen wrestling with an over-size barrel of booze, a gendarme supervising from a distance, and a dock-worker sneaking a taste while no one is looking. The colours are strong, and the poster is just so charming that when folks walk into the gallery, they inevitably end up talking about it. (It’s up on the wall these days, so if you’d like to see what it looks like, come on down!)

The Noirot poster really reminds me of a Monty Python movie (for those of you too young to know what I’m talking about), from the message to the typography to the way it is laid out. Very funny and a great conversation piece.

And at the complete other end of the spectrum, a poster from 1976 that reprises the original poster used for the exhibition from which the term Art Deco was coined. Such an elegant piece – lyrical, sweet, small, and easy to place just about anywhere. (Another one I might have to take home with me …)

Philippe Sommer creates modern posters with an old world twist: not only are his designs retro, he has created his own version of a tax stamp that he places on each of his works, giving it the same type of provenance as a vintage poster. I love the colours and movement in his works. We’ve had a few, but this one is just so striking …

The talented and charming (and tall!) Tomasz Walenta recently sent us a treasure trove of posters from Warsaw. I have written many times about how his posters charmed me into accepting modernity (and contemporary works) into the gallery, and I’m so very glad I did. The Wratislavia Cantans is – I think – one of his best works, and if I had to pick my favourite Walenta, that would be it. A close second is his poster for La Mama.

For sheer goofiness the Chapellerie Trois-Six poster wins the quirk-of-the-year award: rabbits go in one side and voila, felt hats out the other! Too funny … unless you’re a rabbit…

And finally, my all time favourite Rene Vincent Loterie Nationale poster. She’s so lovely and full of joy – from her rosy pink cheeks to her checked pinafore – and when she wins the lottery she’s going to buy a house and a car and chickens and a cow and and and ….

Love her!

So there you have it: Karen’s Top Ten for July 2014. Hope you like them as much as I do.