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 The
1977
Nutcracker
Poster
This poster was
designed by
Beverly Jane
Johnson and came
about as the
result of Ms.
Johnson being
sent to New York
by the Columbus
Society of
Communicating
Arts and Ballet
Metropolitan to
participate in
the prestigious
international
Illustrators
Workshop.
Always on the
lookout for
worthy
promotional
materials,
Ballet
Metropolitan
agreed to donate
$250 towards the
cost of Ms.
Johnson's trip
to New York.
Once they saw
the results of
her work, Ballet
Metropolitan
donated an
additional $550
to purchase the
original artwork
and keep it for
their archives.
The following
are excerpts
from the
artist's
statement.
"I wanted
to
illustrate
the ballet
as a whole,
and chose to
do so with
four
toy-like
characters
of my own
design. My
original
concepts
called for a
more
conventional
illustration,
but Mark
English and
Fred Otness
inspired me
to go
farther and
find more
answers.
`When was
this ballet
first
performed?'
they asked.
`Is it not
associated
with
richness,
gold and
intricacy?
How did the
Masters
paint at the
time?' These
questions
led me to
the idea of
taking parts
of
reproductions
of elegant
masterpieces
of the
period, and
collaging
them to
recreate the
characters.
I bought a
$45 book of
Vatican art
and started
cutting.
Then playing
with my
original
composition,
I treated
the figures
like dolls
and stacked
Clara on top
of The
Nutcracker,
tipped the
ballerina,
and shot off
the cannon
to knock
over the
Mouse King!"
The artwork
won a place in
the 1977 CSCA
"100 Best"
competition for
excellence in
advertising and
commercial
communications.
It was exhibited
at the State
Office Tower on
Capitol Square,
The Ohio Theatre
and in New York
City at a major
art gallery.
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