From young designers to families, those on the hunt for vintage posters

Fifteen thousand vintage posters, all originals, dating from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. All this is Milano Manifesti, a gallery specialising in the sale and hire of this highly distinctive item. We step into a world where we make our way through display stands and walls often covered with little masterpieces. Accompanying us is the owner, Andrea Re. We are in the Isola district, in Milan, of course. “It all stems from a thirty-year-old collection started by my father, Edoardo, which we continue to expand.”

Milan Manifesti’s customer base is growing. “Alongside a market of passionate collectors who come here already aware of what’s around them, there are many curious young people who perhaps want to put something on the wall and are drawn above all to film, music or design posters.” Re goes on to tell us that the clientele ranges from young, up-and-coming designers “to perfectly ordinary couples or small families who want to enhance their home with something beautiful”.

Looking around, we find ourselves surrounded by posters of all kinds: from the music and film posters Andrea has already mentioned, to advertising and political posters. “I must say that political, music and film posters are all very popular. Film posters are particularly popular amongst young people.” It’s also a question of space: as posters are narrow and long, they fit just about anywhere. And what about politics? “There are lots of young people who buy political posters, especially left-wing ones, whilst those from the other side are a bit harder to sell.”

The price of an original poster (note: not a reproduction) can vary considerably. “Prices range from five or ten euros for some posters or prints depicting old Milan to thousands of euros for a work by Leonetto Cappiello or Jules Chéret”. When determining the value of a poster, there are many variables at play. The main ones are the period, the artist, the type of print (lithography and screen printing being the most valuable), and the condition of the poster. Not the size: “There are small posters that cost five thousand euros, and some measuring 140 cm by 200 cm that cost fifty.”

In short, the demand is there: even in an age like this, when advertising is displayed on giant screens and smartphones and the role of the printed poster would seem to have run its course. “I believe,” Re confirms, “that we have reached such an advanced level of technology that the nostalgia for touching and smelling a paper poster has returned, is returning and will return.” And perhaps for hanging one up in one’s own home.