Gallery - NYC Print Shop
PHILIP WILLIAMS POSTERS
Philip Williams’ eponymous collection in Tribeca fills every inch of the soaring gallery space on Chambers Street. First begun in 1975, the now world-class trove hovers near a half million pieces, from Le Mans posters to sudsy French beer ads to James Montgomery Flagg’s WWII works. Thirty minutes here truly feels like the entire twentieth century unfurled before your eyes.
PHOTOS BY KATE LESUEUR
THE TREASURE OF TRIBECA
More orderly than overwhelming, Philip’s poster collection absorbs its open room: walls, drawers, stacks that make you a bit nervous, and the basement beneath it all. It is a true Manhattan treasure box.
THE ORIGIN STORY
It all started when Williams acquired 80,000 pieces from a globetrotting Dutchman’s estate in 1975. Today, inventory hovers across a broad spectrum of category. Vintage automobile adverts. JFK's promising vision for 1960. A French man in a fur hat raising his pint of Lachapelle. You’ll also see works by the masters of the genre, artists like Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Norman Rockwell, which makes sifting through Williams’ robust collection a bit like witnessing the twentieth century unfurl before your eyes.
ALL WELCOME
“No smoke, no artifice," says Williams. "You really don’t have to understand much to get a poster.” Whether shopping for a tiny walkup or swank Tribeca loft, his shop might be the most approachable art gallery in all of Manhattan.
Visit the shop at 122 Chambers Street in Manhattan.
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