Every modern Olympics, starting with Athens in 1896, commissioned official poster artwork to announce the host city and set the tone for the games. The work attracted serious designers: the 1972 Munich games, for instance, brought in Otl Aicher, whose visual system became a landmark in sports identity. Promotional work from the mid-20th century often came out of the same lithographic traditions as travel and exhibition posters. The pieces shown here are period originals from that lineage.