The Poster Pioneer: Jean-Daniel Clerc on 48 Years of Collecting and In

Jean-Daniel Clerc, founder of the renowned Galerie 1 2 3 in Geneva, has spent nearly five decades rescuing, restoring, and celebrating 20th-century poster art. A pioneer in the field, he helped elevate advertising posters into recognized cultural artifacts.

In our conversation, Clerc reflects on the stories behind vintage posters, the challenges of preservation, and how InkPoster can offer a new, dynamic way to share these historic works with the broader public.

Saving what others discarded

If I have to describe vintage posters in three words, it's a historical and artistic testimonial of the 20th century — mainly the 20th century. It began a little earlier and, of course, continues today.

As I was one of the pioneers in the poster market, we saved many thousands of posters — we saved them from being destroyed. At the beginning, nobody cared about them, and I was lucky to buy some collections or stocks. And now people know about posters – it's a recognized art in the history of the 20th century. I mean, I did the work to preserve them and to bring them recognition for their importance in history and art movements.

The moment it all began

I remember precisely when I began with posters – entering the poster world 48 years ago. It was a long time ago, when I was a student. I found some posters under a wooden floor. They were stuck there, used for insulation purposes. There was a beautiful image of a car. It astonished me. The large-sized poster was in excellent condition. And I realized it was 100 years old.

So I became interested in this world and began my search to find other posters – original, old ones that nobody cared about at the time. I learned that there was a museum in Zurich, then a gallery in Paris, and an auction house in New York. And that was the beginning of my journey – my entrance into the poster world.

Posters’ vibrant language

Advertising posters were made to send a message — to deliver something directly to the public. For that reason, they really come out of the wall. They use bright colors and strong designs. And that’s really a big difference from painting.

But we also see a lot of exchange between advertising art and painting. Painters sometimes got inspiration from posters – like Andy Warhol. And of course, the other way around – many painters also created posters.

Preserving fragile beauty

I believe the main difficulty with preserving old advertising posters is their fragility. They were supposed to be posted in the street, so they were printed on thin paper. At the time, they were valued only for advertising – not for collecting or resale.

Most of them were posted outdoors, and the rest of the print run was kept by chance. But most of the time they were destroyed. Then people used them to start fires or to draw on the back. So many of them are now extremely rare. We can count the surviving ones – maybe just a few copies in the world. And some posters have probably disappeared completely. But it’s my job to track them down – to find images that nobody knows – and that’s very exciting.

So we developed a restoration studio where we saved hundreds and hundreds of posters from being destroyed. We can restore them and stabilize them, photograph them, and then add them to our catalog and website. Our website is a worldwide reference for posters – especially for dating them. We work a lot on dating because most of them don’t have the date printed. Back then, they were used for events in the same year – like August, for example – so everyone knew it meant August of the current year. No need to print the year.

One of our great challenges is finding the exact date. We cross-reference information – the product, the paper, the printing technique, the artist – and we try to date them. That’s a really interesting part of our work.

Potential of modern posters

Today, many posters are not so interesting, because the importance of the printed poster has changed. Most of the advertising budget goes to the Internet or social media. So print gets a smaller share. But within the mass of printed material, there are still some beautiful pieces. Some modern posters will remain an important part of history and art.

Today, we can’t talk about one single style in advertising posters. There are many, many styles. But we do see a lot of posters using photography and photomontage – compositions of different photos combined with interesting typographic work. That style – photomontage and typography – is very common today.

Much of the rest of the production is purely informational – suggesting a website, for example. But in the cultural field – especially cultural posters – there are still many interesting pieces being made. We can think about Werner Jeker, Melchior Imboden, Niklaus Troxler, and many others.

Zermatt by Emil Cardinaux – the story of a priceless poster

I have many posters that I don’t want to sell. Sometimes I upgrade my collection – I sell one piece to buy another. But there is one, one of the top, that I’ll keep forever.

I collect a lot of different posters, different styles – mostly Swiss. But of course, I’m also interested in posters from other countries. For example, I have here the famous Zermatt poster. It was created in 1908, and it was a revolution in art, especially in travel poster art.

At the turn of the century, travel posters’ design was very romantic and realistic – landscapes in Switzerland with cows and mountains. But Emil Cardinaux, in 1908, made a total break in style. He showed the Matterhorn — the Cervin in French — in morning light. Just the light touching the mountain, but not the valley. And this created an incredibly strong image, especially for that time.

It’s a very early example in advertising art history. And it uses just a simple title: “Zermatt,” with the altitude – over 4,000 meters. That poster really changed how people understood posters. It showed how a poster could touch people and give them a message.

How to dive into the world of posters and start your own collection

At the beginning, I would suggest people browse through the 20th century and see the different styles. Some people prefer the turn of the century – Art Nouveau – or maybe Art Deco, or even the ’50s or ’70s. Many young people today really like the ’70s.

I wouldn’t push a specific style or period. I think everyone has to understand and feel it first. If you like a period or a style, then go deeper. Read books, look online, search images. Quickly, you’ll start to focus on certain posters – maybe colors, maybe styles, maybe periods. And you’ll go from there.

Today, people really like the ’50s, Pop art, Psychedelic art – very modern and colorful. We also see interest in Concrete art. We currently have an exhibition here on Concrete art – very colorful, very happy. It’s a big part of our work and interest.

But people are also still interested in Art Nouveau – classic Art Nouveau posters – and of course Art Deco. Striking images of cars or trains from the 1930s still capture the imagination. So interest in different styles remains strong today.

Future of poster art

When I began 48 years ago, nobody understood what I was doing or talking about. Today, it’s totally different.

At that time, there were no books on art posters – only very technical books for graphic designers. But today, there’s a new book about posters, maybe every week. People really like them. Posters are part of popular culture now.

I don’t think that interest will disappear – I believe it will keep growing. And now, many museums have poster collections – some are even specialized in posters. That will help make them even more popular.

InkPoster – a great door into the poster world

Working with InkPoster is very interesting for me. It could be a great door into this world — a good introduction to poster art. People who don’t know much about vintage posters can see them on InkPoster screens. They can have them at home, on the wall, or in public spaces. That might spark curiosity, and then they may want to learn more — maybe even visit a gallery.

I have many customers who say they have no more space. So InkPoster could be a great solution for collectors – to show their collection on-screen, while safely storing the originals in drawers, like we do here. It’s a really good product.