Herve Morvan: Jeunesse au Plein Air
May 31, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Looking for a summer poster? We know you’ll love the posters by Herve Morvan, whose bright, cheerful style and humorous graphics exemplify the spirit of summer!
Herve Morvan, a famous poster artist known for his playful style and use of color in his humorous lithographs, created original advertising posters that continue to amuse us today. Morvan was born in 1917 and lived until 1980; he enjoyed a prolific career and one that left a lasting impression on society.
Morvan was a friend of Raymond Savignac, who also had a playful style that hints at Morvan’s own. The two French artists knew each other and were influenced by the other’s style, though they competed in their field.
Herve Morvan, Bendix Vainqueur de l’Epreuve, 1968
Morvan’s posters have quite a range of subjects, because he designed for everything for cigarette adverisements to household items, to travel posters.
Herve Morvan,
Geveor
Some of the most playful posters that VEP has of his are the Jeunesse au Plein Air posters. When translated to English, that means “youth outdoors” posters, and indeed, these delightful posters emanate youthfulness and creativity. These playful lithographs bear the words “au profit des colonies vacances,” or “in favor of camps” under the image. They promote children going to summer camps.
Herve Morvan, Jeunesse au Plein Air (sand hat), 1951
One of the posters depicts a smiling young girl with red hair in pigtails sporting a hat made out of a sandcastle. The viewer can just immediately imagine other children playing at beaches during a summer camp; the image of the sand castle hat immediately conjures up thoughts of summer, freedom, and fun for children. Morvan’s poster obviously accomplishes its task of promoting camps for children during the summer.
Herve Morvan, Jeunesse au Plein Air (Duck), 1951
The second poster shows two young children catching a carefree ride with a duck. The duck has a camera hanging around its neck, as if it is ready to snap some Kodak moments at any second. The children smile happily, and the young girl holds a bouquet of flowers. The cheery green background evokes feelings of the great outdoors and the endless opportunities of summertime.
Herve Morvan,
Jeunesse au Plein Air (Flower scooter)
Morvan’s posters still express the fun and carefree days of summer many years later. Stop by VEP soon to see some of Morvan’s original posters such as these!
(sources:
This post was written by Karlie Drutz, Vintage European Posters special projects coordinator, and edited by Elizabeth Norris, owner of Vintage European Posters.
You can visit our showroom at 2201 Fourth Street in Berkeley on Tuesdays and by appointment.
Call us at 510 843 2201 to schedule an appointment.
Our next pop up open weekend is June 8-9 2013. You can see our collection at www.vepca.com
You can also see us in Los Angeles at Dwell on Design June 21-23
Les Vins de Bourgogne and Place de Vosges
May 10, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Les Vins de Bourgogne
Les Vins de Bourgogne is an original vintage poster illustrated by Guy Arnoux advertising wines from France’s Burgundy region. The poster shows a 17th-century military captain reclining under a canopy of grapes, hinting that the wine has been aged to perfection. This beautiful piece was printed in the 1920′s using stone lithography.
If you visit Paris, make sure to go to Place des Vosges, a lovely park in the Marais which was built by Henry the 4th and inaugurated in 1612. Place Des Vosges is a formal garden, it features plane trees planted in allees, and triangles of grass. There is a perfect geometry to the place. It is surrounded by well appointed buildings, with shutters and steeply pitched blue slate rooftops.
As is the case in much of Paris, the bottom floor of many apartments is used for storefronts and restaurants. You can have lunch at Ma Bourgogne, and watch the steady stream of people walk in and out of the gates of Place des Vosges. Visit their website to get a taste of this wonderful place.
This post was written by Karlie Drutz, Vintage European Posters special projects coordinator, and Elizabeth Norris, owner of Vintage European Posters.
You can visit our showroom at 2201 Fourth Street in Berkeley on Tuesdays and by appointment.
Call us at 510 843 2201 to schedule an appointment.
Our next pop up open weekend is May 18-19 2013. You can see our collection at www.vepca.com
Original General Dynamics Posters by Eric Nitsche
April 28, 2013 § Leave a Comment
The General Dynamics posters are vibrant works whose designs are unparalleled in the poster world.
Eric Nitsche designed three series of posters for General Dynamics from the years 1955 to 1960.
The first series, created in 1955, was called Atoms for Peace, and consisted of 6 posters. These posters all featured a central image with the words “Atoms for Peace” written in a different language on each poster. Some of the specific themes of the posters were: astrodynamics, hydrodynamics, and electrodynamics.
The images in the middle of the poster are striking, they ask the viewer to think – what is that imagery? What is that showing? The poster below embodies the concept “radiation dynamics,” and it evokes a sense of waves generating from the deep red circle at the top of the poster. The design is simple, yet stunning.
General Dynamics -Atoms for Peace (Arabic)
Another question we can ask in the year 2013 is: just WHY did they design these posters?
The answer is complex, but one could conjecture that the propaganda was necessary for General Dynamics to promote the peaceful use of atomic energy. Certainly, the history behind the atomic bombs dropped on Japan was fresh in people’s minds even a decade after World War II. People associated atomic energy with a force of mass destruction and tragedy associated with war. The plan for General Dynamics at this time was to change that perception through the creation of these posters that generated a positive association and connection to atomic energy.
Atomic energy was a fast-emerging power source, and General Dynamics displayed the Atoms for Peace posters at the conferences they attended, like the Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva in 1955. These were important tools in representing General Dynamics’s company, which was founded in 1952. What kinds of products did General Dynamics make? Most notably, they made the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, but some of their other products included medical instruments and rockets.
General Dynamics – Atoms for Peace, Electrodynamics (Sanskrit)
Why were they in different languages? The different languages include: Sanskrit, French, German, Russian, English, Japanese, Arabic. General Dynamics tried to appeal to an international audience; thus, they tailored their poster to be striking visually for all viewers, but to have writing in different languages on each poster.
The second set of Atoms for Peace featured 7 posters, all created in 1956. Some of the others series of posters that General Dynamics created were the Triga series, which promoted a research reactor, and a series that focuses on a variety of products for energy and industry.
The posters offer a look at how a groundbreaking scientific research movement used propaganda. As artwork, the posters have a vibrancy and visual power that makes them eye-catching. I find it interesting that they are a set that is hard to find in full completeness, and I think their rarity adds even more to their mystique.
Vintage European Posters has been lucky to acquire a collection of General Dynamics posters recently, and we invite you to visit us and see for yourself how intriguing these posters really are.
General Dynamics – Atoms for Peace (Japanese)
Right now, we are exhibiting at LA Modernism with 10 newly aquired General Dynamics posters. When we get back to the shop in Berkeley next week, we will photograph them, catalogue them, and upload them to our website, so stay tuned for new acquisitions!
This post was written by Karlie Drutz, Vintage European Posters special projects coordinator,
and edited by Elizabeth Norris, owner of Vintage European Posters.
You can visit our showroom at 2201 Fourth Street in Berkeley on Tuesdays and by appointment.
Call us at 510 843 2201 to schedule an appointment.
Our next pop up open weekend is May 18-19 2013. You can see our collection at www.vepca.com
A Guide to Being an Informed Poster Buyer
March 26, 2013 § Leave a Comment
At Vintage European Posters, we like to say that we don’t sell you posters, we find you the posters you love. We also know that it can be very overwhelming to walk into a poster shop where you are offered hundreds of original posters to choose from, so here are some helpful tips to help you become an informed poster buyer.
1. Purchase posters that you love. Many factors determine the value of a vintage poster, including its rarity, condition, designer, and sometimes subject matter, but the most important feature of a poster is that it speaks to you.
2. Know your source. Members that display the IVPDA logo have passed a series of stringent membership requirements. Association members have many years of professional experiences and are respected within the arts community for their knowledge and integrity.
3. Original posters were advertising items, not meant to last, and were printed on inexpensive paper. Therefore, a poster printed on heavy stock or good quality paper may be suspect.
4. Know your wall space. Vintage Posters come in all shapes and sizes, so it is always a good idea to know your size requirements and restrictions ahead of time. Your IVPDA member-dealer will help you identity and obtain posters that suit the space you have to display them. *
5. Have fun! This is a time for you to engage with the posters that intrigue you and learn about their history. At Vintage European Posters we do our best to foster an engaging and welcoming environment to help you feel comfortable in choosing the right poster for your space and lifestyle.
Jules Alexandre-Grun, Cocorico! 1913
Linen Backing and Mounting
Using a reversible conservation method, most posters today are professionally linen backed; mounted on acid free paper and a light cotton canvas or mounted on acid free Japanese rice paper. The IVPDA membership includes professionals who undertake this work as well as restoration, if necessary
The IVPDA
The International Vintage Poster Dealers Association (IVPDA) is a non-profit professional organization of dealers, which provides strict guidelines to ensure the authenticity of the posters for sale. Dealers displaying the IVPDA logo are found in many cities around the world. Members are committed to the highest standards of professional ethics in the collectibles industry and have been carefully screened for their knowledge of printing techniques, posters, and business ethics.
Villemot, Perrier C’est Fou, 1976
*Numbers 1-4 reprinted form the IVPDA brochure. (Now out of print)
This post was written by Emily Jackson, UC Berkeley Art History Student and Gallery Assistant, and edited by Elizabeth Norris, Owner Vintage European Posters www.vepca.com
Vintage European Posters was established in 1997. We are the West Coast’s Largest Dealer in Original Vintage Posters from France and the United States. See us online anytime at www.vepca.com and at our Berkeley Showroom OUTPOST 2201 Fourth Street, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Fernet Branca is so Chouette!
February 25, 2013 § Leave a Comment
The mystical Jagermeister logo
In the 1980s, Americans discovered Jagermeister. Now Jager has been around for more than a century, but a lean, mean marketing machine of a man, Chuck Giometti, decided to put Jager in the hands of every college kid in the US, and with the use of Jager girls and chilling machines, he did it.
Where did we drink Jager? In New Orleans on the street, in New York at KGB, in San Francisco at Dr. Bombay’s, in Oakland at the Omni, and at home, never far from the freezer. You must drink it chilled. Imagine my surprise when I visited Germany in 1993, very excited at the prospect of drinking Jager in the motherland and was met with sideways glances by my German friends.
In Germany, Jagermeister is considered the drink of old men, and is used as a digestif. So when I asked for Jagermeister, it was assumed that, well, I needed digestive aid. I found this postcard when I returned from Europe and it really cheered me up.
“When my dealer is away, I drink Jagermeister”
About 10 years ago, folks began to approach us at shows and say “Fernet Branca?” At first I didn’t know what they were talking about. We learn a lot from our clients, and thankfully, one explained to us that it was an Italian digestif. Over time we learned that when people asked for Fernet Branca, it was safe to assume they were bartenders by trade – today’s mixologists. Asking for Fernet Branca at a bar is code for “I am also a bartender.”
Fernet Branca logo from the label
Eventually, we met the man responsible for putting Jagermeister and later Fernet on the map. Mr. Giometti contacted us and asked us to help him assemble a collection of original Fernet Posters. And so we did. Today, he promotes Absente from Micel Roux, Rhum Barbancourt, and Prichards Whiskey to name a few.
Original Fernet Branca Menthe Poster
Anyway, here is our one and only Fernet Branca poster. I LOVE this piece. It was printed in the 1960s and suggests how cool or “chouette” the liqueur was then. The poster is an original, and we consider it to be in Fine (or A-) condition. The image is a summer image, evoking memories of a long cool drink under an umbrella. Oh happy place, I’m ready for summer already!
