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Object Timeline

1964

  • Work on this object began.

2010

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Poster, Sein oder Nichtsein (To Be or Not to Be)

This is a Poster. It is dated 1964 and we acquired it in 2010. Its medium is offset lithograph on wove paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Hans Hillmann cleverly communicates the plot of the film To Be or Not to Be through his use of a conceptual illustration. The Modernist graphic designer strives to create movement on the page, thus more accurately reflecting the feeling of a film’s motion. Translating the active experience of film into the static participation of viewing a poster is a major goal of Hillmann’s; his layouts incorporate multiple points of view and play with perspective to produce graphic montages.

This object was donated by Marc Benda. It is credited Gift of Sara and Marc Benda.

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Its dimensions are

85.1 × 59.2 cm (33 1/2 × 23 5/16 in.)

It has the following markings

Lower right: FSK / Freigegeben

It is signed

Center left: Hans Hillman

It is inscribed

Lower right: P.R. Wilk, Ffm.

Cite this object as

Poster, Sein oder Nichtsein (To Be or Not to Be); offset lithograph on wove paper; 85.1 × 59.2 cm (33 1/2 × 23 5/16 in.); Gift of Sara and Marc Benda; 2010-21-78

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition How Posters Work.

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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/18758363/ |title=Poster, Sein oder Nichtsein (To Be or Not to Be) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>