The Irish Travel Poster – A Rare Gem

Brandt, Land of Legend, c. 1950

It’s winter here in California, so we are cleaning out our flat files.  We have recently rediscovered several of our Irish travel posters from the mid 20th century, and they are beautiful! Irish posters are few and far between, so if you see one, buy it! Chances are you won’t see another for quite some time.  These came to us a couple of years ago when we bought a collection of over 200 travel posters from a librarian who had collected travel posters as a hobby. Her collection started in 1948 and ended in 1965, and there were posters from Many countries we had never seen represented in the poster before, including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, Tahiti, and Jamaica.

Dublin Coach Tours, c. 1950

The Irish travel posters that we have in our collection were all printed in the 1950′s. In 1945, at the end of WWII, Ireland was reorganizing its transportation system. The Great Southern Railways (GSR) and the Dublin United Transport Company merged to form Coras Iompair Éireann (CIE), which provided Ireland with the nationalized and multifaceted transportation system that is still in place today.* This merging of companies was followed by a large scale campaign to advertise to new and improved transportation, and these posters are examples from the series. The poster above is specifically advertising Dublin’s coach tours.

Poster: Ireland Holiday Travel, Killiney Beach, c. 1950; Top: 2c, Killiney, Co Dublin, Ireland**

This poster was advertising holiday travel by train to the coasts of Ireland. It depicts Killiney, a coastal village just south of Dublin. As you can see, the national railway still passes through today.

Melai, Ireland Invites You, 1955

This poster advertises ‘An Tostal’, a series of Irish festivals celebrating Irish life and culture with parades, and arts and sporting events. These festivals were held between 1953 and 1958,  during which the government printed posters like this encouraged tourists to come celebrate Ireland during the Easter off season.

These posters were meant to appeal to a broad audience across many countries to invite YOU to Ireland, and they still do so today!

*”About Us.” CIE Group of Companies. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012.<http://www.cie.ie/about_us/schools_and_enthusiasts.asp&gt;.

** Photo Credit to 2c on flickr

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

We will be open during the following weekends in December
Saturday – Sunday, Dec. 8-9
Saturday – Sunday, Dec. 15-16

Honoring WWI and the Strasbourg Statue

Galland, Statue of Strasbourg, 1918

In honor of Veterans Day, still known as Armistice Day in France, we decided to take a look at our collection of WWI posters. This particular poster, designed by the prolific poster artist Andre Galland, celebrates the unveiling of the Strasbourg Statue on Armistice Day 1918. The Strasbourg Statue depicts a woman as the personification of Strasbourg, the capital of the Alsace region in France. It is located in the Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris, and is accompanied by personifications of the seven other capital cities: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, and Rouen.

Statue of Strasbourg in Place de la Concorde, Paris

The Alsace region was lost  was lost to Germany in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, and was only returned to France at the end of WWI. On Armistice Day November 11, 1918, when Alsace and her capital Strasbourg were once again united with France, the French people honored her statue in the Place de la Concorde.  In celebration of the end of the war, and the return of the Alsace region, she was draped in French Tricolor flags and garlands, which we can see in Galland’s poster.

The inscription at the bottom of the poster reads:

The Statue of Strasbourg, erected like the other cities of France on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, was piously decorated with tricolor flags by the people of Paris … On the evening of the armistice, she shines in the light of the party victory!

The artist, Andre Galland, continued to be a successful poster artist in the decades after WWI, designing posters for the French National Lottery, and several French fertilizer companies like the one below.

Galland, Superguano, c. 1925

Like Galland’s Strasbourg Armistice Day poster, there were many posters, French, British, and American alike, that were printed to celebrate the end of such a devastating tragedy. Now, almost a century later, we still remember the end of the war, and remember those soldiers who have fought in wars around the world.

Christy, Americans All! 1919

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

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

Marianne in the World War One Poster

Real, Inspired and Allegorical Figures in Poster Art

Poster art often features the human figure.  In many cases, the figure is solely an illustration conjured from the imagination of the artist.

Stephane, Cognac Briand, c. 1925

In some instances, the figure is modeled after a real person such as in The Lefevre-Utile ‘LU’ Biscuits poster by David Lance Goines. This image was inspired by Ginger LeFevre, a descendant of the famous cookie family, and Goines shows the little girl reaching for a cookie jar. Likewise, Firmin Bouisset, used his children as models for many of his posters.

Left: Goines, Lu Biscuit Right: Bouisset, Maggi

Sometimes posters feature allegorical figures. Like the advertising posters which came before them, posters from the First World War were designed to motivate the viewer to enlist in the army, or to buy a war bond.  They also had a secondary imperative: to inspire the viewer.  In fact, in the United States, posters were part of a campaign of salesmanship to get the American public behind the war.  American Posters used figures like Uncle Sam, Columbia, and Lady Liberty allegorically.  French Bond Posters used Marianne.

Silver coin featuring Marianne

Marianne is the personification of the Republique Francaise and a symbol of liberty and freedom.  Images of Marianne first appear in 1775 and depict her standing, young and determined, sometimes bare breasted as she leads soldiers into battle.  Her image is allegorical, and is inspired by another allegorical figure, that of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and war.

The figure was used on the French postage stamp in 1849, and also on the franc.  Today she appears on the French Euro coin.  We encounter Marianne occasionally in the advertising poster.

Advertising poster for Saponite Laundry Soap, featuring Marianne berating a seated Napoleon

She is, however, best enjoyed in the poster in French World War One Bond and Reconstruction posters.

M. Richard Butz, Souscrivez Pour la Victoire, 1916

In this poster,  created early in the war, a fierce Marianne flies over a battlefield littered with dead soldiers.  Behind her, soldiers march triumphantly.  After one and a half years of brutal battles and many losses, France needed such imagery to stay the course.

Lelong, Credit Nationale, 1920

This reconstruction poster by Rene Lelong features Marianne in red wearing laurels of victory.  She smites a battleaxe turning her blade in for a plough.  The poster is populated with a blacksmith, a teacher, and a farmer, suggesting that France will enjoy a renaissance in construction, culture, and agriculture when the bond is sold successfully.

Droit, Emprunt National, 1920

This beautiful and peaceful image by Lt. Jean Droit shows Marianne steering a boat,  representing commerce, import, and export, through calm waters.  In this image, she wears the Phrygian cap, an ancient symbol of freedom and liberty, which is a typical feature of her garb.

If you visit Paris, keep an eye out for Marianne.  If you know what to look for, you will no doubt spot her.  Here she is at Place de Nation in Paris.

Marianne at Place de Nation

This noble Marianne statue was created by Aime Jules Dalou in 1899, and it is a strong image of history and inspiration.  Although Marianne never lived, her iconic image has left an imprint in France for over a period of almost 225 years.  We feel we know her, we feel we have seen her before, and that we can relate to her.  I guess that is exactly what a good allegory is designed to do.

This post was written by Elizabeth Norris, Owner Vintage European Posters and edited by Emily Jackson, UC Berkeley Art History Student and Gallery Assistant,  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

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

We will be exhibiting our posters at the Fall Hillsborough Antiques Show November 2-4

Rosie the Riveter and WWII Home Front Posters

On our most recent Vintage European Posters field trip, we paid a visit to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front Museum in Richmond, just 10 minutes up the coast from our Berkeley Offices . The museum is a National Historical Park, part of the National Park Service, and admission is free!  Our visit was a rich opportunity to learn about local history and find out more about the stories behind our own WWII posters, many of which feature “Rosies.”

Anonymous poster from 1943

The US officially entered the war after the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941,  although we had been providing the Allies with ammunition for several years already. The demand for warships skyrocketed, and Richmond’s coastal access to the deep water of the San Francisco Bay made it the perfect location for what would become the “largest and most productive shipyards in the entire world.”* Overnight Richmond went from a small town of 20,000 to a bustling hub of industry with a population of over 100,000, making the Bay Area was an essential hub in the home front effort during World War II.  One visit to the Rosie The Riveter Home Front Museum reminds us  how much history is truly right in our backyard.

The labor demands of munitions factories changed the gender and racial make up of our region. Many young white men enlisted in the army, and there were far more jobs than could be filled by those who stayed home.  This workforce demand meant a massive influx of women and African Americans, eager to find work and contribute to the war effort.

An essential part of the home front effort was the use of posters to encourage young individuals –  mostly women – to join the war effort. Daycare programs and America’s first every HMO healthcare Kaiser Permanente were established so that women could devote the majority of their time to production.

George Rapp, 1943
Fun Fact: this poster was also featured in the movie A League of Their Own!

While women were encouraged by their government to join the workforce, they did face a certain amount of discrimination in the shipyards. Posters often played a large role in reassuring the male workers that women could work just as hard and be just as skilled as men. In fact, there were some things that women did better! One woman, who was a welder during the war, compared welding to needlepoint, and claimed that one could always tell whether a man or women had done the welding by how neat it was.** Posters like the one below depicted men and women working side by side, having set aside any prejudices in order to work for a common cause.

Anonymous, c. 1945

There were also racial tensions in the workplace, and while we see more posters advertising cooperation between genders, there were a handful of posters with the slogan “United We Win,” such as the one below.

Anonymous, 1943

The war came to an end in 1945, and the shipyards were shut down.  Thousands of people were forced out of work and expected to make room for the soldiers coming back from overseas. Many women returned home to care for their families, but some continued with industrial work, enjoying their newfound independence. All in all the Richmond shipyards produced seven hundred and forty seven warships during WWII, all thanks to the men and women who worked for their country on the home front.

Anonymous, 1942

The Rosie the Riveter and WWII Home Front Museum is a wonderful place to experience our local history and learn about the women who joined the effort to fight for the home front cause. Be sure to check out their website to plan your visit to this remarkable FREE museum!

Sources:
* http://www.rosietheriveter.org

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,on  Tuesdays and by appointment.

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

This fall we will exhibit at the Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend October 20-21

The Fall Hillsborough Antiques Show November 2-4

Arts and Crafts Panels by Heywood Sumner

The upcoming Pasadena Heritage Show means that we are still thinking about Arts and Crafts homes over here at VEP! The prolific artist Heywood Sumner ( 1853-1940)  is a great example of an artist whose work would fit beautifully in a craftsman home. Sumner was an illustrator who worked alongside the Pre-Raphaelites from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, in addition to being a prominent figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Like many of the artists from this time period, Sumner worked in multiple mediums, and he also wrote about technique, so as to share what he had learned with other artists and craftsman.  Sumner was known for wood engraving, book illustration, and as a designer of wallpaper, tapestries and other textiles

We’ve recently had the pleasure of acquiring two new posters designed by Sumner, each of which presents a different poem bordering the image. The poem decorating the border of this first poem is entitled To Autumn and was written by the famed poet John Keats.

Heywood Sumner, Season of Mellow Fruitfulness Autumn

Sumner has included several lines of the poem on the poster:

Season of mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core

The full poem describes the feeling of summer days passing into autumn, full of hard work and hopefully a bountiful harvest. The poster image’s warm earthy tones coupled with the rhythmic rows of wheat suit the poem perfectly.

This second poster includes a poem written by Christina Rossetti, a prominent writer in late 19th century England. Christina’s most famous poem is the dark “Goblin Market” Her brother, Dante Rossetti, was one of the most well-known Pre-Raphaelites, and his lush paintings are banner images from the movement.

Sumner, When Every Leaf is on its Tree Summer

In this poem, Rossetti sings the praises of summertime:

When ev’ry leaf is on its tree
When Robin’s not a beggar
And Jenny Wren’s a bride
And larks hang singing singing singing
Over the wheat-fields wide

Unlike the golden tones in Sumner’s Autumn poster, this image is bursting with vibrant green life - you can practically hear the birds singing!

We are always excited to find British posters, since they are relatively rare. It was the French that were the primary collectors, remember, so whenever we can get our hands on posters printed in Britain – especially when they’re as beautiful as Sumner’s – we’re over the moon! The earthy browns and greens in these posters make them a perfect pair mounted side by side, and their unique horizontal shape would fit well with the beautiful moldings and friezes in Craftsman homes. Vintage posters may not be the first type of art to come to mind for the Arts and Crafts home, but explore poster collections with examples which come from the period (roughly 1880-1920) and you will find many appropriate works of art.

Check out our Pinterest to see other great examples of Craftsman style posters!

This post was co-written by Emily Jackson, UC Berkeley Art History Student and Gallery Assistant, and  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

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

This fall we will exhibit at the Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend October 20-21

The Fall Hillsborough Antiques Show November 2-4

Vintage Posters for the Arts and Crafts Home

Posters are bold and brash you say? Not the right art for the craftsman bungalows that proliferate here in the Bay Area, where we at Vintage European Posters are based? Well maybe that’s because what commonly come to mind when you think ‘vintage poster’ are the saturated images of art deco such as Cognac Briand below. You only have to dig a little bit to find vintage posters that fit the arts and crafts aesthetic.

Cognac Briand by Stephane

First look to British Posterists like The Beggarstaffs, Dudley Hardy,  and Louis J. Rhead.

Artists from left to right: The Beggarstaffs, Dudley Hardy, and Louis J. Rhead

And of course the tradition of British Rail Posters

Vintage British Railway Posters

All suit the Arts and Crafts home with their limited color palette, restrained ornamentation and neutral colors.  The work of American Posterists can also be appropriate, like that of  Ethel Reed, Will Carqueville, and  William H. Bradley. The American style tends to have more in common with the British style than with the French posters of that same time period.

Three beautiful American posters

Another surprise category which we have seen work very well in our clients’ bungalows is the American World War I ‘home front’ posters.  Not the bloody posters we sometime associate with the war

On Ne Passe Pas by Neumont

but the more beautiful posters associated with causes such as food conservation, the YMCA and YWCA, gardening, and The Red Cross.

World War I “Home Front” Posters

From the category of non vintage advertising posters, another great fit is the work of living poster artist David Lance Goines, a Berkeley local.

Two posters by David Lance Goines

Goines uses a very limited color palette – neutral colors such as beiges, browns, blacks, and golds predominate.  Goines has many different clients who commission posters from him, and he draws from nature for many of his designs, whether the client’s product relates nature or not.

David Lance Goines, Sioux City Art Center

As William Morris, one of the grandfathers of the Arts and Crafts Movement, once said, “If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”* A motto to live by if ever there was one! One of the things we love most about our vintage posters is that they served a particularly unique function in history, and still remain remarkably beautiful today.

As we prepare for the Pasadena Heritage Society Craftsman Weekend, we are combing through our collection and trying to think like William Morris.  I hope you can join us at this beautifully curated show in October.

For more information on Arts and Crafts homes, check out our friend Arlene Baxter’s wonderful blog about green bungalow homes.

Sources
*”The Beauty of Life,” a lecture before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design (19 February 1880), later published in Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham, 1878 – 1881 (1882).

This post was written by Elizabeth Norris, Owner Vintage European Posters and edited by Emily Jackson, UC Berkeley Art History Student and Gallery Assistant,  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

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

This fall we will exhibit at the Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend October 20-21

The Fall Hillsborough Antiques Show November 2-4

A New Collection of Summer Posters “Jeunesse au Plein Air”

Everybody’s just getting back into school mode, so naturally here at VEP we are dreaming of our next vacation! This charming series of posters was issued by the Federation of Secular Workers in France in 1951, encouraging parents to send their children to summer camp.  All of the posters in the series were designed by Herve Morvan, one of the post war poster artists.  Morvan also made posters for Air France, Billecart Champagne, Evian Water, and Bendix appliances.

Whether advocating a day out in the sunshine, 

or a trip to the park to feed the ducks, 

these posters make it clear that the “key” to a happy childhood, is a summer spent at camp! 

Is summer really over already?

This post was co-written by Emily Jackson, UC Berkeley Art History Student and Gallery Assistant
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

As well as at pop up open weekends (sign our mailing list to receive updates about pop-ups)

This fall we will exhibit at the Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend October 20-21

The Fall Hillsborough Antiques Show November 2-4