InterContinental Boston, a 424-room luxury hotel located on Boston’s burgeoning waterfront and just 1.5 miles from Boston’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal, and International Poster Gallery launch “Titans of the Sea: Posters from the Golden Age of Ocean Liners”, an exhibit of some of the greatest vintage ocean liner advertising posters from 1914 - 1954. The show, which runs from July - December 2012 at the InterContinental Boston, explores the romance, history and adventure of ocean travel with 10 extraordinary selections from a recently acquired collection of more than 200 ocean liner posters. Included are works from major lines like Cunard, Holland America, French Line, and many others. The posters are for sale and range in price from $2,000 to more than $20,000. Also for sale are a selection of antique maritime items from Boston’s Lannan Ship Model Gallery, such as vintage life savers, buoy lights and engine order telegraphs from the 1920s that complement the exhibit.

A Toast to the Captain

To celebrate this new nautical exhibit and Boston’s expanding Fort Point Channel upon which the hotel sits and where numerous new docks have recently been installed, InterContinental Boston’s new outdoor bar, RumBa on the Waterfront, launches a new drink, Captain’s Cocktail. This refreshing vintage cocktail is made from Mass.-based Berkshire Distillers New England Corn Whiskey, Cherry Heering, Angostura Bitters, lemon juice, simple syrup and bourbon-soaked cherry ($11).

The Golden Age of Ocean Liners

The innovation of steam power in the 19th century opened the world to a Golden Age of ocean liner travel. Fueled initially by the need for reliable mail delivery and a transportation network for the British Empire, the industry saw an explosion of popularity during the “Great Atlantic Migration” that brought 29 million immigrants to the United States between 1871 and 1914. By the turn of the century, ocean liners began to compete for prestige and currency through luxurious first class quarters on the upper decks. Examples include posters for Cunard’s Mauretania (launched 1906) and White Star’s Titanic (1912) advertising veritable floating palaces that rivaled the opulence of the era's grand hotels.

This show includes masterpieces of this glamorous era. Featured is artist Odin Rosenvinge’s pre- WWI classic and majestic Cunard Line (1914) advertising poster portraying the newly launched Aquitania heading out to sea under full steam. This ship was one of the most beloved and profitable every to ply the Atlantic, served for a remarkable 36 years.

The beginning of World War I brought an abrupt halt to the boom in ocean liner travel, with many civilian ships converted for military duty; however, developments in more efficient propulsion technologies and the creation of the “Tourist Class” passenger cruise reinvigorating the industry after the war. During this period, Cunard used advertising posters extensively to enhance its position in transatlantic travel. In the exhibit is artist Frank Mason’s poster for Cunard (1924) which conveys the romance of intercontinental travel by juxtaposing the cool abstract shapes of a modern liner with the thrilling moment its skyscraper-lined destination comes to focus. In addition, the show features the large format ‘Die Kommended Gossbauten’ (‘The Next Big Ships’), dramatically announcing the launch of the Bremen and Europa, the first two German superliners (1929). The Bremen is also depicted in artist Bernd Steiner’s poster underscoring the grand scale of the liner which dwarfs a car being lifted onboard by an unseen crane ominously signifying a shift in the global balance of power and the powerful reemergence of Germany (1930).

In the late 1920s, French poster artist A.M. Cassandre played a pivotal role in the emergence of a new Art Deco poster-style. United States Lines, formed in 1921, was a new comer to the world of ocean liner fleets previously dominated by the Europeans. As seen in the exhibit, Cassandre’s sharply geometric poster of the United States Lines’ ship funnels in red, white, and blue expresses the intentions of the upstart to join the elite group. Also the perfect expression of Art Deco is the ‘New Statendam for Real Comfort’ poster by Cassandre in which the artist conveys the messages of the streamlined, geometric design of the ship’s ventilation cowls and smoke stacks (1928).

Despite the worldwide Depression, some of history’s most spectacular ships were launched in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The arrival of the Normandie in 1935 signaled the apex of this Golden Age. It was the largest and fastest ocean liner, able to cross the Atlantic in little more than four days, and the ultimate expression of the artistic and scientific genius of France. The exhibit showcases Cassandre’s extremely rare ’60 Voyages’ version of the ‘Normandie’ poster (1938) that celebrates the successful early years of this great ship. The Normandie is also depicted in artist Montague Black’s ‘French Line CFT’ (1936) showing the mighty ship under full steam as it reaches Bishop Rock Lighthouse, the westernmost tip of Great Britain.

Also part of the show, inspired by Cassandre, the ‘Nieuw Amsterdam’ poster (1936) by Ten Broek is a dramatic and streamlined design emphasizing the ship’s speed as she cuts across the wake of a tiny sailboat. This is one the of the most successful Art Deco ocean liner posters.

The global depression and rising international tensions brought an end to this period of carefree and relaxed travel, and when World War II broke out, orders were given to convert many cruise liners into troop carriers. A fervent arms race inspired development of faster, more reliable aircraft, which ushered in a permanent decline in the popularity of travel on the high seas. The Golden Age of the Ocean Liner nevertheless continued into the 1950s and early 1960s when transatlantic crossings were joined by a strong increase in pleasure cruises. In the exhibit, Italian poster artist Rene Gruau’s ‘Relax’ poster (1954) of an Audrey Hepburn-like beauty, dozing in the sun onboard, is a classic of travel poster art.

About Lannan Ship Model Gallery

Founded in 1967, Lannan Ship Model Gallery is a 6,000 sq. ft. gallery specializing in new and antique maritime pieces with special emphasis on model ships. Lannan’s is located on the first floor of the 99 High Street Tower in Boston, Mass. For more information, visit www.lannangallery.com or call at 617.451.2650.

About the International Poster Gallery

International Poster Gallery is located at 205 Newbury Street in Boston and is open daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon - 6 p.m.

For additional information, please visit www.InternationalPoster.com or call 617-375-0076.

About the InterContinental Boston

InterContinental Boston is located on Boston’s historic waterfront on the site where the Boston Tea Party took place in 1773, at the base of the city’s financial district and just minutes from Logan International Airport. This AAA Four Diamond luxury 424-room hotel is the first InterContinental hotel in Boston (and New England) and offers SPA InterContinental, a 6,600 sq. ft. spa and health club with indoor pool, Miel “Brasserie Provençale,” a Provence-inspired brasserie; Sushi-Teq, a sushi and tequila bar and RumBa, a rum and champagne bar, named among the “Top 100 Bars in the US” in Food & Wine’s Cocktails ’09. The hotel also offers 32,000 sq. ft. of meeting/function space overlooking the Fort Point Channel, including the largest ballroom in downtown Boston. InterContinental Boston was voted by Condé Nast Traveler’s 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards among the “Best [Hotels] in the World”; “Best Room with a View” in 2010 by Yankee Magazine in the ‘Best of New England’ issue; named among the “2008 Best Business Hotels” in the world by Fortune and Wallpaper magazines; voted Best of Boston 2007 as “Best New Hotel” by Boston Magazine and named one of ten “Best New Business Hotels of 2006” by Forbes.com. For more information on the hotel, visit www.intercontinentalboston.com and for reservations call 877-747- BOSTON.

International Poster Gallery (IPG) offers a world-class collection of thousands of original vintage posters from all periods and genres. In addition to gallery shows and special exhibitions, IPG’s award-winning Website, www.internationalposter.com, features one of the largest, most comprehensive online collection of vintage advertising posters in the world. Originally launched in 1998, the site contains nearly 5000 images accessible through a powerful search engine.