Graphic Arts Collection
The library’s Graphic Arts Collection encompasses posters and production art. The poster collection includes more than 42,000 items representing the cinema from some of its earliest attractions to current theatrical releases, and consists primarily of one-sheet posters from Hollywood films as well as examples from independent and foreign productions. Production art materials document more than eighty years of motion picture design. Acquired from designers, collectors and professional organizations, the collection primarily consists of costume and production design drawings, but also includes other forms of production art such as title art and animation artwork. The collection also includes a small number of paintings and illustrations of individuals prominent in the motion picture industry.
Featured Poster Collections
Cudequest family collection
Includes more than 1,700 posters for short and feature-length animated films, from the years 1911 to 2004.
Edward Mapp collection
More than 1,200 posters tracing the history of African-Americans in cinema from 1921 to 1995.
Poster Painters collection
The collection documents an American cottage industry that was popular from the 1910s until the 1950s.
Richard Koszarski Polish poster collection
Showcases the distinctive modernist style developed by poster designers in Poland after World War II.
Featured Production Art
Robert Boyle papers
Documents the career of this important production designer, including his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock.
Leo “K” Kuter papers
The papers of art director Kuter include his and other artists’ production and costume design drawings.
Leonard Stanley collection
Contains more than 600 drawings illustrating the work of some of Hollywood’s most distinguished costume designers.
Leah Rhodes costume design drawings
Documents thirty years of work, primarily at Warner Bros., by this early Academy Award recipient.
Poster Preservation
The library has an ongoing preservation program to care for its posters. The video seen here documents the conservation of one of the largest pieces in the library’s collection.
