Whitney's poster design was designated the official poster for the 1980 Winter Olympics by the Olympic Committee. The design melds a mountain range on the right with a stylized Greek column on the left, which rises up towards the Olympic rings. The double “dip” top of the column references the Olympic cauldrons from the 1932 and the 1980 Olympics, both held in Lake Placid. Several of the venues from the 1932 event were renovated and then reused for the 1980 competitions. I like this poster design but, at least to me, it seems too similar to the Innsbruck poster from the previous Olympics. Lake Placid1980 trivia: the US won 6 gold medals in Lake Placid, one by the “Miracle on Ice” men’s hockey team and five by speedskater Eric Heiden (who set four Olympic records and one World record); Sweden’s skier Ingemar Steinmark won gold in both the slalom and giant slalom events; this was the first Olympics which used artificial snow to supplement natural snow; the Olympic Village, built to house the athletes during the event, was repurposed afterwards as a federal correctional facility.
February's theme: Olympics Posters
1980 LAKE PLACID GAMES. Designer: Robert W. Whitney (1928 – 2015).
Whitney was a graphic artist and watercolorist who was born and raised in Lake Placid, New York.
#arthistory #art #OlympicGames #LakePlacid
