14 Oct Vintage Values
Vintage Values is a collection of pamphlet covers designed and printed in Ireland between the 1920s and 1960s by the Catholic Truth Society in Dublin 1 (now Veritas).
The pamphlets were principally for use in the parish to help people seeking advice in a variety of topics such as marriage, sin, dating and social graces. Some of the texts were imported from the USA but all the artwork was created and printed in Ireland.
The collection is extremely unique. It gives a visual context for an important period in Irish history. The artwork shows how forward-thinking the artists were in producing work in such a bold visual style. The collection includes work by esteemed Irish designers including George Altendorf and Karl Uhlemann. Long hidden in the Veritas archives, this will be the first time in over 50 years they have been seen by the public.
The Veritas archive contains a near full run of pamphlets of almost five thousand individual titles. Each one accompanied by an index card indicating the cover artist, fee paid, print-run and subsequent reprints. The archive is a unique repository of Irish commercial art from the formative years of the State. It represents an important strand of Irish visual culture which has until now been overlooked and uncelebrated.
Vintage Values will run from 4 – 24 November in the National Print Museum. The exhibition would comprise of approximately 35 high-res prints of a selection of the best artworks incorporating varies styles and themes from the collection. The original pamphlets will be displayed alongside the prints.
We hope that this lively and engaging selection will foster a new appreciation for these covers and the wealth of talented artists who created them.