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Object Timeline

2011

  • Work on this object began.

2014

2015

2025

  • You found it!

Poster, Spirited

This is a Poster. It was designed by Tong Yang-Tze and Jianping He. It is dated 2011 and we acquired it in 2014. Its medium is screenprint on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Jianping He was among forty Asian designers invited by the Taiwanese calligrapher Tong Yang-Tze to collaborate on a group of twenty-four works of calligraphy focusing on the subject of "imitating nature." The theme, which had long been a driving influence in the tradition of Chinese painting and calligraphy, also reminded He of a quote by Albert Einstein: "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Working with Yang-Tze, He designed a poster that features a single calligraphic Chinese character. He built-up a network of thin lines that connect the different ends of the character’s lines, transforming the flat design into a shape with a three-dimensional appearance. The poster was designed for the Asian Culture and Arts Development Alliance.

This object was donated by Jianping He. It is credited Gift of Jianping He.

  • Poster, Public
  • digital offset lithograph on paper.
  • Gift of Paula Scher.
  • 2013-25-10

Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.

  • Poster, Salzhaus
  • offset lithograph on paper.
  • Gift of Felix Pfäffli.
  • 2014-30-1

Its dimensions are

118.9 × 84.1 cm (46 13/16 × 33 1/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Poster, Spirited; Designed by Jianping He (Chinese, b. 1973), Tong Yang-Tze (Chinese, b. 1942); Germany; screenprint on paper; 118.9 × 84.1 cm (46 13/16 × 33 1/8 in.); Gift of Jianping He; 2014-23-5

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design: Recent Acquisitions.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/68743391/ |title=Poster, Spirited |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=23 October 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>