Solo show
Ethel Reed: I Am My Own Property
25 Feb 2022 — 21 Aug 2022 at Poster House
· New York City
Poster House presents "Ethel Reed: I Am My Own Property," an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Ethel Reed (1874–1912?), one of the most celebrated American poster artists of the late nineteenth century.
At a time when the commercial poster was emerging as a major art form, Reed broke through as a rare female voice in a male-dominated field. Her striking Art Nouveau compositions — featuring sinuous lines, flattened forms, and a bold command of color — graced the covers of books and magazines and made her a household name in Boston and beyond.
The exhibition brings together a rich selection of her posters, illustrations, and archival materials, tracing her meteoric rise to fame in the mid-1890s and the mysterious circumstances of her later disappearance from public life. The title, drawn from Reed's own words, speaks to her fierce independence and her insistence on controlling her own image and career at a time when few women could do so.
At a time when the commercial poster was emerging as a major art form, Reed broke through as a rare female voice in a male-dominated field. Her striking Art Nouveau compositions — featuring sinuous lines, flattened forms, and a bold command of color — graced the covers of books and magazines and made her a household name in Boston and beyond.
The exhibition brings together a rich selection of her posters, illustrations, and archival materials, tracing her meteoric rise to fame in the mid-1890s and the mysterious circumstances of her later disappearance from public life. The title, drawn from Reed's own words, speaks to her fierce independence and her insistence on controlling her own image and career at a time when few women could do so.
About the artist
Ethel Reed
1874–1912
Ethel Reed was an American graphic artist. In the 1890s, her works received critical acclaim in America and Europe. In 2016, they were on exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., the Fine Arts…
About the artist →About the venue
Poster House
· New York City
Poster House is the first museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to posters. Located in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, on 23rd Street between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, the museum opened to the public on June 20, 2019.
