Original advertising material for Orson Welles’s groundbreaking 1941 film, Citizen Kane, represents a significant artifact of cinematic and design history. These promotional pieces, ranging from lobby cards and window displays to the iconic “Rosebud” one-sheet, visually communicated the film’s themes and allure to contemporary audiences. They serve as primary source material for understanding how the film was marketed and received upon its initial release.
These artifacts offer valuable insights into the visual language of early Hollywood marketing. They highlight the graphic design trends of the period and demonstrate the strategies used to attract viewers. Furthermore, given the film’s enduring legacy and controversial reception, these materials hold cultural significance, reflecting the public’s initial reactions to a film now considered a masterpiece. Studying them provides a lens through which to examine the evolution of film promotion and its intersection with artistic and social contexts.