Summer of Sport 2012: The Olympic Games

   In celebration of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics, here’s a quick look at past Olympic Games and other sporting events in original vintage posters:

The 1972 Munich Olympics set a high standard aimed to “represent the intertwining of sports and art worldwide” with a series of posters by various popular artists of the period (Peter Phillips, Horst Antes, Otl Aicher, David Hockney among others) commissioned to design posters in Germany for their advertising campaign.

       
Munich Olympics – Athletics, designed by Peter Phillips; 1972 Olympic Games Munich, designed by Horst Antes

            
Munich Olympics (equestrian), designed by Garry Cranham; Munich Olympics – Sailing, designed by P. Cornelius; Munich Olympics – Swimming, based on a photo by Herbert Graaf

Aside from the poster artwork for the 1972 Munich Olympics, other Olympic Games and Olympic-related sporting events have also provided some fantastic designs, including:

       
Austrian Olympic Fund 1936, designed by Schroffner; XVII Rome Olympic Games 1960 – Historic Games, designed by A. Alessandrini

       
Olympic Spring 1965, designed by V. Volikov; Mexico Olympic Games, 1968

…and let’s not forget the Winter Olympics:

       
Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1964, designed by Fred Lindholm; Grenoble Olympic Games 1968, designed by Alain Perceval

Visit www.AntikBar.co.uk for more original vintage posters (including those pictured below) and follow @AntikBar on Twitter and Pinterest for “Poster of the Day” tweets/pins and other news and events updates.

           
         
         

Wishing all the competitors the best of luck, let’s end this short online exhibition of original vintage posters with the inspirational words of the Olympic Motto:

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!