Vintage Polish Posters | Warsaw Autumn 1979 | Hilscher

Warsaw Autumn (Warszawska Jesień) is the largest international Polish festival of contemporary music. For many years, it was the only festival of its type in Central and Eastern Europe. It was established in 1956 by two composers, Tadeusz Baird and Kazimierz Serocki, and officially established by the Head Board of the Polish Composers’ Union. It is an annual event, normally taking place in the second half of September and lasts for 8 days. The poster artist Hubert Hilscher (d. 1999) was a Polish graphic artist born to a German family in Poland. In 1944 when he was only 20 years old, he fought in the Warsaw Uprising as a soldier of the Home Army. In 1949, his interest in printmaking led him to attend the State Academic School of Plastic Arts, which merged with the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where he graduated in 1955. After graduating, Hilscher worked at WAG, a publishing house that provided patronage for poster designers, where he served as art director between 1961-1970. In 1962, he served as art director for the bimonthly magazine Projekt until the magazine ceased  production in 1983. Major awards included the Silver Medal at the International Tourist Poster Exhibition in Milan, Italy, Prize of the Year in the Best Warsaw Poster competition 1973, and in 1981, Second prize at the 4th Poster Biennial, Lahti, Finland.