How the French New Wave revolutionised visual culture
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Reel Art Press
French New Wave is one of the most influential movements in film history. Rejecting the established language of cinema, it placed the power with the director, who would stamp their personal signature on the work so that the hand of the artist was felt from start to finish.
La nouvelle vague, as it was locally known, introduced the work of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Agnès Varda, Jacques Rivette, and William Klein – but it didn’t stop with the creation of the film. In the new book, French New Wave: A Revolution in Design (Reel Art Press), publisher Tony Nourmand reveals how French New Wave film posters became as powerful as the movies themselves, transforming the landscape of visual culture through art, photography, and graphic design.
French New Wave films were produced by smaller, independent companies, which allowed poster artists greater freedom to translate the film into a provocative image. Artists subtly seeded a new set of fine art aesthetics into the mainstream by introducing new trends in Pop Art, photomontage, and comic illustration through what was largely seen as a disposable medium.
“A lot has been written about Goddard, Truffaut, and the French New Wave movement, but no one has ever put all these posters together and looked at them as a group,” Nourmand, a former movie poster dealer, explains. “I’ve been working on this book for 12 years. When I was a dealer, my favourite thing to do was research artists, who did what, and find unusual designs.”
Rather than focus on the films themselves, the book is organised by artist, to explore the way in which a single figure could shape the look of the era. At a time before studio contracts dictated poster design, French New Wave celebrates the innovative and visionary ways a movie could be advertised. “In some cases, I don’t even know if the directors or producers would see what was going on as far as the poster design goes,” Nourmand says.
In other cases, the auteur had a hand in the poster itself. Consider the work of polymath and poet Jean Cocteau, an influential figure in the French avant-garde whose own painting appears on the French poster for his 1960 film, Le Testament d’Orphée. It is a triumph of advertising that reveals the power of the poster to bridge the worlds of high and low art in a single image.
“I always compare movie posters designers to this line from Sunset Boulevard where William Holden says, ‘Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along. A lot of thought and energy and creativity has gone into the posters. People used to take them for granted, but for me they are works of art.”
French New Wave: A Revolution in Design is out now on Reel Art Press.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Barry Keoghan, Franz Rogowski and Andrea Arnold on ‘Bird’
The new issue of Little White Lies brings Andrea Arnold’s sixth feature to life with a thematic voyage down the Thames estuary.
Written by: Maisy Hunter
“A party is a microcosm of a nation”: Caleb Femi on the decline of the house party
To celebrate the publication of his new collection ‘The Wickedest’, Isaac Muk caught up with Femi to talk more about the work, the future of the shoobs, and discuss why having it large on a Saturday night should be cherished.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Celebrating 20 years of The Mighty Boosh
A new exhibition takes a look behind the scenes of the iconic show two decades after its BBC3 premiere.
Written by: Isaac Muk
We Run Mountains: Black Trail Runners tackle Infinite Trails
Soaking up the altitude and adrenaline at Europe’s flagship trail running event, high in the Austrian Alps, with three rising British runners of colour.
Written by: Phil Young
The organisation levelling the playing field in the music industry
Founded in 2022, The Name Game is committed to helping female, non-binary and trans people navigate the industry.
Written by: Djené Kaba
Vibrant, rebellious portraits of young Cubans
A new photobook captures the young people redefining Cuban identity amidst increased economic and political turbulence on the Caribbean island.
Written by: Isaac Muk