Description:
Poster for the thermal bath and spa in Gyula, the historical thermal city.
The city of Gyula is located right next to the Romanian border, on the Eastern side of Hungary. The spa was built in the park that belongs to the Almássy castle, a nature reserve. Due to the rich and special vegetation, the park has a unique microclimate. The famous composer, Ferenc Erkel (who was born in Gyula) was a close friend of the Almásy family. He spent a lot of time in the park and the legend says he even wrote his famous opera ‘Bánk Bán’ in this garden. The castle was an active venue for the contemporary cultural life. This was the very first Hungarian castle to host theatre plays (1746), the famous Hungarian painter, Mihály Munkácsy started to get familiar with painting here and numerous great composers gave concerts in the castle.
In the 1930s the municipality intended to build a spa here, but the family did not approve. After World War II, the castle was nationalized (just like the majority of the aristocrat’s properties) by the socialist government and the thermal spa was finally built on the estate’s territory. Today it is regarded as one of the most beautiful spas in the world.
The poster showcases the most important information about the advertised subject: the rich plantation, the castle in the background, the pool and the people playing carelessly. It has a lively summer atmosphere, thanks to the bright blue of the water and the sky and the vivid green of the trees. The painted image resembles the style of burnt photography. The use of these overexposed photographs were very popular in the 1960s poster art, however, those were black and white images as coloured photography was not in use in Hungary at that time. Here the artist needed a colourful image to transfer the intended message, so he painted the composition but used very strong contrasts, simplified figures and black stains in order to reach the highly decorative and artistic effect. The text is written with a very simple typography and says the following: Gyula Castle Spa, open in winter and summer, for holiday, relaxing or having fun.
