On January 2003, S2 Art Group had opened their newest fine art gallery in the Los Angeles, Farmer's Market. The premier exhibit was the new 'limited edition lithographic film posters". The exhibition was called "AFI Presents 100 Years - 100 American Movie Poster Classics".
The project was a collaborative effort between the American Film Institute (AFI), Universal Studios and Art of the Movies. Art of the Movies is the name that S2 Art gave the 100 posters in the collection.
The posters were recreated on S2 Art's rare antique, 1870's French Marinoni lithography printing press using hand drawn plates and the slow hand pulled, one colour at a time, method originally used to create the classic posters during the first half of the 20th century.
All posters are the exact same size (including borders) as the original with one exception. Unlike the originals which were printed on cheap paper using inferior ink, the recreations are printed on archival, durable Coventry cotton paper and hand made French Rives BFK cotton paper using the finest quality inks. Such painstaking preservation efforts ensure that these American cinematic masterpieces will survive for many generations.
Many titles are sold out but there are still many of these recreated masterworks available such as the King Kong 3-sheet, The Mummy one-sheet and more. This is the closest that most of us will ever get to owning one of these classic posters at an affordable price. Most of these "masterworks of American culture" no longer exist or are in very poor shape. Those that are in good shape will cost you millions - even the ones that are in very poor shape will be in that million dollar price range.