National Portrait Gallery: Ballyhoo! Posters as Portraiture

Visit an example-rich exploration of poster art and learn how famous faces have been used to convey meanings and messages across the decades. An excellent resource for discovering how art can be a window into a particular time, Ballyhoo! looks at images from a range of periods in U.S. history, including turn-of-the century America (ca. 1890), World War I, World War II, and the 1960s. An effective device, also, for learning about celebrity culture and the tried-and-true advertising ruse of celebrity endorsement.