Tomasz Sarnecki (b. 1966), a young Polish graphic designer, transformed a publicity still of Gary Cooper striding down the street in the famous film High Noon (1952) into a campaign poster for the crucial 1989 Polish elections. The poster was displayed all over Poland, encouraging voters to end Communist control of Poland. The 1989 elections – the first democratic election in Eastern Europe since 1946 – finally brought to power Lech Walesa and the once outlawed Solidarity Party. (In 1980, after a rash of nationwide strikes, Solidarity gained recognition as the first legal independent trade union in a Soviet controlled country.) The year 2000 marks the 20th Anniversary of Solidarity — 1980-2000.
In the Solidarity (SOLIDARNOSC) poster, Sarnecki portrays Cooper armed with a folded ballot for Poland’s Solidarity Party in his right hand & wearing the Solidarity (SOLIDARNOSC) logo above his sheriff’s badge in a showdown with Communist ‘bandits’. The message at the bottom is short and to the point: “W SAMO POLUDNIE 4 CZERWCA 1989″ – It’s High Noon, June 4, 1989.
History of NSZZ SOLIDARNOSC (Solidarity)
© Contemporary Posters
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Has anyone else heard this poster was actually printed in Italy, and dropped over Warsaw from airplanes the night before the election? This was told directly to me by the owner of the art of poster dot com. Perhaps he was trying to sell me the original (he did) by upselling its origins.
I would like to get a copy of the Gary Cooper poster, please let me know if possible and how much.
Sorry but we don’t sell those posters. Please contact the dealer directly.
Russ, How much did you pay for the original?