Posters have been used to tell us useful information, convince us to buy things or vote, invite us to events and tell us who is performing a play. Since cheap printing became possible in the 17th century the art of the poster and broadside has been perfected. Using a range of typefaces and fonts, the text itself can be the decoration; coloured paper and then coloured inks attracted our attention before images appeared to show us visually.

This is a selection of posters from the collection, including those that appeared in the Poster Power! exhbition at the Victoria Art Gallery 23 Jan-10 May 2026.