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Object Timeline

1977

  • Work on this object began.

1979

  • We acquired this object.

2013

2015

2016

2024

  • You found it!

Poster, Olivetti

This is a Poster. It was designed by Milton Glaser and made for (as the client) Ing. C. Olivetti & C. S.p.A.. It is dated 1977 and we acquired it in 1979. Its medium is lithograph on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

For decades the firm Olivetti employed cutting-edge graphic designers to create their promotional posters. Milton Glaser conceived of this poster to advertise Mario Bellini’s Lexicon 83DL typewriter. The surrealist image features a sunlike sphere balancing on an index finger in a quiet landscape, evoking the equilibrium of the well-designed typewriter.

This object was donated by Milton Glaser. It is credited Gift of Milton Glaser.

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Its dimensions are

67.7 x 47.7 cm (26 5/8 x 18 3/4 in.)

It is inscribed

Imprinted in lower right: 1977 [Milton Glaser logo] / MILTON GLASER / Printed in Italy . cod. 3990937 G

Cite this object as

Poster, Olivetti; Designed by Milton Glaser (American, 1929–2020); Client: Ing. C. Olivetti & C. S.p.A. (Italy); lithograph on paper; 67.7 x 47.7 cm (26 5/8 x 18 3/4 in.); Gift of Milton Glaser; 1979-42-6

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Energizing the Everyday: Gifts From the George R. Kravis II Collection.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18498107/ |title=Poster, Olivetti |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=26 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>