In July 1881, bill-posting became legal in Paris. The result was an explosion of creativity over three glorious decades recognised as the golden age of poster advertising, stirring together elements of new printing technology, William Morris' attempts to reconcile medieval artistry with modern industry, the influence of newly-open Japan on European engraving and aesthetics, and the talents of artists as diverse as Jules Cheret, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha and Aubrey Beardsley.

The Art Nouveau Poster is the most comprehensive survey to date of this vivid and much loved subject, featuring over 400 illustrations from all of the major European centres, Britain and the United States, with an informative and accessible text. A final chapter looks at the revival of interest in the 1960s following major retrospective exhibitions of Alphonse Mucha and Aubrey Beardsley, and features work from the psychedelic era.