Date: 1918
Size: 22.25 x 15.5 inches
Notes: Poster, Signed, Lithograph
Artist: Jean-Louis Forain
About The Poster: This black and white lithograph poster is dated as being made July 10, 1918, and we know that it was published in an old French magazine called Oui! (or "Yes!" in English). It is signed in the plate, and its edition number (137/300) is also indicated in pencil. Its original title is « Déplacement et villégiature » which directly translates from French as 'moving/travelling and resort/sojourn'. A 'villégiature' was originally an Italian idea born in the Renaissance. While there is no real English equivalent (at least not that we've found!), it basically describes vacationing away from the home, typically in the countryside.
The original print shows two old men whose dialogue is indicated on the lower left-hand side of the image:
- Où va-t-il celui-là? ... À St Jean de Luz!
- C'est leur Chemin des Dames
Which translates to:
- Where is he going? To St. Jean de Luz!
- It's their Chemin des Dames
Chemin des Dames (literally, "Ladies' path") was of strategic importance in the early nineteenth century's Battle of Craonne, and also in the First World War when it was used for the three Battle of the Aisne.