"Lady From Shanghai", the '1947' Poster

Original photographic production photo from 1948 film Noir The Lady from Shanghai starring Rita Hayworth, Orson Welles and directed by Orson Welles. The photo was taken by Robert Cob...

This framed advertising poster for Nanyang Brothers Tobacco dates to the 1920-30s and melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the nuanced color and fine resolution of color lithography. Known as yuefenpai, or calendar posters, these advertisements depicted fashionable women and intriguing scenery alongside annual calendars and product placements. Evolved from traditional nianhua paintings (New Year pictures), these advertising posters were strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement in the west and recall the economic boom of early 20th century Shanghai, an international center of business and trade. In this example, a young woman dressed in fine clothing and jewelry strolls through a traditional courtyard garden, surrounded by stone statues and towering pagodas. In the lower left corner is an open pack of Golden Dragon Cigarettes and below an array of cigarette brands, each a product of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco. The scene is surrounded by trailing vine scrollwork and text suggesting the poster may have been given as a corporate gift...