First N. Y. Film Festival. 1963.

ARTIST: LARRY RIVERS (1923-20002) SIZE: 30 x 46 in./76.2 x 116.8 cm PRINTER: DESCRIPTION: This poster is hand-signed, dated, and numbered (#13/250). With its cinematic components broken down into an edgy, stenciled schematic, Rivers announces the inception of what would rapidly become one of the most important film festivals in the world. In addition to his work as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and poet, Rivers was also a jazz saxophonist. He painted for a short period under the influence of the Abstract Expressionists but, after seeing Pierre Bonnard’s retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1948, he began to apply his facility for drawing to figurative subjects extracted from the intimate circumstances of his family life and everyday surroundings. During the early 1950s Rivers devised a loose, translucent technique that merged painting and drawing, treating images in a manner suggestive of multiple-pose montages. His work was distinguished by a versatility that enabled him to synthesize elements from the visual, literary, and performing arts. (Modern; Film; New York; American)