#Alternative #Movie #Posters
With the unavoidable streaming service revolution and never-ending media content overload, it’s easy for movie fans to forget how the film poster medium wasn’t always rooted in the now standard photoshop and cutting-edge graphic designs. Even before poster icons like Drew Struzan, who gave us the original artwork and composed paintings for titles like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Back to the Future, we enjoyed images from legendary poster artists like Saul Bass, Bob Peak, Reynold Brown, and many more.
Over the past decade and a half, however, Alternative Movie Posters have battled those new standards, offering gorgeous limited-edition screen prints that feature iconic reimagining’s of cult cinema created by some of the most renowned commercial illustrators of today. These limited run posters often sell out of stock online within mere minutes when offered by the artist, at their special debuts with notable galleries, and events like the San Diego Comic-Con.
My first experience with Alternative Movie Posters began just one year before the opening of the first Mondo gallery in 2011. While visiting Austin, Texas, for Simon Pegg’s Nerd Do Well book signing at BookPeople I had some time to kill, so I visited the nearby Austin Comics and wandered next door to a new pop culture art shop, Guzu Gallery.
Among the vinyl and resin toys, figurines, and other unique novelties, I noticed a back wall gallery space dedicated to local artists and special prints, some in collaboration with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Instantly my eyes connected to Tim Doyle’s Tarantino poster series, which was exclusively offered through a SpokeArt show, and later Guzu. After realizing how rare this opportunity was to own such exclusive prints, I made my purchase, and my obsession for all things Alternative Movie Posters began.
Fast forward to over a decade of collecting alternative posters and I’m still eager to collect both earlier prints and new releases as they continue to grow in collectability among artists, fans, and galleries. In Heritage Auctions upcoming Vintage Poster Signature Auction April 23-24, we are proud to present more than 35 of these limited edition prints by Alternative Movie Poster trendsetters including Laurent Durieux, “Ghoulish” Gary Pullin, Drew Struzan, and Tyler Stout to name just a few. Most notably in the sale are various Durieux Hitchcock prints for Rear Window, The Birds, North by Northwest, and my personal favorite, Gary Pullin’s sleek and minimalistic approach to Vertigo.
Vertigo, by “Ghoulish” Gary Pullin (Mondo, 2014). Estimate: $600-$1,200.
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions
As a collector and Hitchcock fan for life, it’s been a joy to catalog these posters which often stand out far beyond their original mass produced one sheets, nevertheless inspired by their original movie poster artists. Although Alternative Movie Posters appeared in the early 2000s, they have a unique edge making them true objects of art, a perception that’s only enhanced by their scarcity and limited nature.
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