The Freshman
Batiste Madalena
American, 1902–1988
1925
A 1925 tempera-on-poster-board movie poster for the Harold Lloyd comedy The Freshman, designed to sell the film by projecting the star’s exuberant personality in one bold image.
It hits you with blazing pinks and reds as Lloyd’s laughing face is simplified into luminous flat planes and bright highlights beneath a jaunty hat, while rhythmic white strokes at the neck act like a visual cheer that pushes the portrait outward.
As a work of 1920s film advertising, it demonstrates how illustrators used modernist flattening, vivid color, and personality-driven imagery to codify the visual language of celebrity promotion and movie publicity.
Medium
Tempera and paper on poster board
Dimensions
Overall: 43 x 24 1/8" (109.2 x 61.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Courtesy of Judith and Steven Katten
Accession
F1922
Palette
Exhibitions
