Date: 1936
Size: 25 x 40 inches
Artist: Albert Solon
We recently received a large collection of French Art Deco Travel and Tourism posters - and as fast I listed the Air France posters, they sold! This one was just released to us by it's owner, and it is a beauty - done in 1936 by Albert Solon, it is described by the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC (who has a copy in its collection), as follows: Man in beret stands on rock in foreground watching an airplane (Dewoitine D.332 or D.333) in flight...
Throughout their history, posters have been a significant means of mass communication, often with striking visual effect. Wendy Wick Reaves, the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Curator of Prints and Drawings, comments that "sometimes a pictorial poster is a decorative masterpiece - something I can't walk by without a jolt of aesthetic pleasure. Another might strike me as extremely clever advertising … But collectively, these 'pictures of persuasion,' as we might call them, offer a wealth of art, history, design, and popular culture for us to understand. The poster is a familiar part of our world, and we intuitively understand its role as propaganda, promotion, announcement, or advertisement."
L.A.P.E. is the abbreviation for Lineas Aereas Postales Espanolas, so we assume Air France had a joint venture with that airline at the time this poster was produced. Professionally linen-backed, this poster is in excellent condition.