Another illustrious precedent in flat art is the work of art-deco poster artist A.M. Cassandre, whose seemingly simple flat illustrations are, however, undergirded by mathematical calculations.

A 1936 poster, designed by Gert Sellheim, one of 58 pieces displayed in “Art Deco: Commercializing the Avant-Garde,” opening Sept. 28 at Poster House in Manhattan.

The Art of John Alvin should change that. The book, a collection of Alvin's best works and the in-progress sketches that formed them, memorializes Alvin' s talent (he died of a heart attack in 2008).

While much of American Pop Art was intent on dismantling sentiment and criticizing history, Cuban poster artists used the same Pop silk-screen techniques to create works that paid homage to bygone ...