MoMA: Family of Man Exhibition
Takashi Kono
Japanese, 1906–1999
c.1955
A lithographic exhibition poster by Takashi Kono made to promote and adapt Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man for Japanese audiences, using image and type to convey the show’s humanist message.
You’re struck by a bold, stylized sun emblem and large Japanese headline balanced against a narrow vertical strip of black-and-white documentary photographs and strong blue and black color blocks, creating a crisp, international-modern rhythm.
This mid‑1950s design shows how graphic art mediated cultural exchange—translating and circulating Steichen’s humanist photography in Japan while helping define the visual language of postwar museum promotion and modern graphic design.
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
28 7/8 × 20 3/8" (73.3 × 51.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Anonymous gift
Accession
861.2015
Palette
Exhibitions
