To capture the attention of the public, medical posters frequently featured whimsical subject matter such as bears drinking Ayer’s Cherry Pectoral. These engaging graphics were often the work of anonymous designers, but prominent artists such as Jules Chéret (French, 1836–1932) and Leonetto Cappiello (French, born Italy, 1875–1942) also produced medical posters. It was Chéret’s large, colorful lithographs that elevated the crude commercial placard to the rank of fine art in the 1890s, with depictions of vivacious young French women (modeled after his own wife) that call to mind the popular American Gibson Girl of the early 20th century.
Cappiello’s silhouetted figures demonstrate the beneficial effect of the product being advertised, as in the case of a smiling senior citizen dancing for joy as a result of taking Uricure pills in a 1910 poster promoting this remedy for rheumatism, arthritis, gout and kidney stones. Whether Uricure was effective is questionable, but Cappiello’s bold approach revolutionized 20th-century poster design with striking graphics and bright colors.
Other medically themed posters offered a more serious message, such as those that warned about deadly diseases. These were often endorsed and disseminated in government service campaigns, and spared no detail in graphically conveying the potential danger. Posters of this type ranged from admonishments about amoral behavior (an anti-alcohol campaign from 1902-12), to drug use (Marihuana, Weed with Roots in Hell, c. 1936), to an even more serious campaign of the 1930s against syphilis that warned, "Syphilis is a social plague; its victims are beyond number."
"Most of the posters on view in the exhibition advertised products that have long since disappeared," said Innis Howe Shoemaker. "While advertisements for Sparklet Nasal — a hand-held carbon dioxide apparatus said to provide relief from the common cold and the Genuine German Electro Galvanic Belt are more commonly associated with quack medicine, the bold graphics, whimsical subjects and large-scale posters provide insight into a history of advertising since 1846.”
The Museum’s Ars Medica Collection was launched in 1949 with support from the Philadelphia-based pharmaceutical company Smith, Kline & French Laboratories (now GlaxoSmithKline), which continued to support the collection’s growth for four decades. Comprised of prints, drawings, photographs, posters, illustrated books, and ephemera covering a broad array of medical topics, it now includes some 3,000 works of art on paper and is the only collection of its type housed in a major art museum.
The accompanying exhibition catalogue, 
Health for Sale: Posters from the William H. Helfand Collection (Philadelphia Museum of Art) by William H. Helfand, John Ittmann, Innis Howe Shoemaker consists of 60 pages with color illustrations and features an interview with William H. Helfand. The curators are Innis Howe Shoemaker and John Ittmann.
Image(s) Courtesy of the PhiladelphiaMuseum of Art.
1. and 2. Uricure - In the Major Drugstores and Pharmacies, c. 1910-11. Leonetto Cappiello, French (born Italy), 1875 - 1942. Color lithograph (poster) ; ©Artists Rights Society (ARS). New York / ADAGP, Paris.
Vin Mariani - Popular French Tonic Wine, Fortifies and Refreshes Body & Brain - Restores Health and Vitality. Jules Chéret, Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, 20, rue Bergère, Paris, Printed by Imprimerie Chaix (Ateliers Chéret), Paris, 1894. Lent by William H. Helfand, New York
3. Ayer's Cherry Pectoral - Cures Coughs and Colds, 1900, Artist/maker unknown, American. Color metal relief print (poster) , . Philadelphia Museum of Art, The William H. Helfand Collection, 1989.
4. The Next to Go Fight Tuberculosis! 1919. Artist/maker unknown, American. Color halftone lithograph (poster), . Philadelphia Museum of Art, The William H. Helfand Collection, 1999.
5. Man as Industrial Palace , 1926. Artist/maker unknown, German. Color offset lithograph (poster). Philadelphia Museum of Art, The William H. Helfand Collection, 2010.
Pages: 1 · 2
More Articles
- From the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) For the Public: What You Need to Know About Vaping
- How Health Affects Voter Turnout: There’s An Important Polarization of the Electorate to Consider - The Health Divide
- How I Joined the Revolution in New Body Parts
- The National Trend Toward Pushing Cannabis into Mainstream Culture; Seniors Increasingly Getting High
- 5th White House Science Faire; The Theme? Diversity and Inclusion in STEM
- Weighing My Options and Exercising Choices: My Cirque du Soleil Moment
- Does Exercise Contribute to Arthritis? Assessing and Improving Value in Cancer Care
- Do Those High Heels Really Mean Future Pain?
- Hitting Bottom
