Alain Weill (born 7 September 1946) is a French expert in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

, a specialist on

posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...

, art critic and collector.

Biography

Alain Weill attended the and then he studied

legal science Legal science is one of the main components in civil law tradition (after Roman law, canon law, commercial law, and the legacy of the revolutionary period). Legal science is primarily the creation of German legal scholars of the middle and late n ...

. He obtained two master's degrees:

semiology Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is a ...

and

sociology of art The sociology of art is a subfield of sociology that explores the societal dimensions of art and aesthetics. Scholars who have written on the sociology of art include Pierre Bourdieu, Vera Zolberg, Howard S. Becker, Arnold Hauser (art historian ...

. As an essayist, Alain Weill has authored many books and

exhibition catalogue There are two types of exhibition catalogue (or exhibition catalog): a printed list of exhibits at an art exhibition; and a directory of exhibitors at a trade fair or business-to-business event. Art or museum exhibition catalogues Catalogues for ...

s dedicated to

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional graphics, i.e. produced on a flat surface,food critic A food critic, food writer, or restaurant critic is a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings to the public. Terminology "Food writer" is often used as a broad term that encompasses someone who w ...

, and a founding member of the Council of Culinary Arts. He is a former director of the Musée de la Publicité in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(1971–1983) and was artistic director of the from 1990 to 2001. He is the jury president of the European Advertising Award.

Selected publications

* ''Art Nouveau Postcards: The Posterists' Postcards'', Images Graphiques, 1977 * ''100 Years of Posters of the Folies Bergère and Music Halls of Paris'', Images Graphiques, 1977 * Co-author with Jack Rennert, ''Alphonse Mucha: The Complete Posters and Panels'', G. K. Hall & Co., 1984 * ''The Poster: A Worldwide Survey and History'', G. K. Hall & Co., 1985 * ''Parisian Fashion : La Gazette du Bon Ton (1912–1925)'', Bibliothèque de l'Image, 2000 * Co-author with Israel Perry, ''Chocolate Posters'', Queen Art Publishers, 2002 * ''Le Design graphique'', collection «

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

» (nº 439), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 2003 ** US edition – ''Graphic Design: A History'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

" series. Harry N. Abrams, 2004 ** UK edition – ''Graphics: A Century of Poster and Advertising Design'', '

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

' series. Thames & Hudson, 2004 * ''Masters of the Poster 1900'', Posters Please, 2003 * Mirande Carnévalé-Mauzan, preface by Alain Weill – ''The posters of Mauzan'', Square One Publishing, 2008 * ''The Art Nouveau Poster'', Frances Lincoln Publishers, 2015 ;Collective work * AA.VV., ''Les années 20 : L'âge des métropoles'', « Livres d'Art ». Gallimard and Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, 1991 * AA.VV., ''Gunter Rambow – Plakate / Posters'' (in German), Edition Axel Menges, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weill, Alain 1946 births French art critics Collectors from Paris 20th-century French essayists Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite École pratique des hautes études alumni Living people