Vintage Lithograpic Aviation Poster by Ernest Montaut
Lot: 256
(French, 1879-1909),
Locomotion Aerienne, Grand Palais, Paris, 1909,
lithographic poster in colors,
image: 63.5 x 47.25 inches,
plate signed lower right,
Purchased at Sothebys in 1984 by Current Owner (Oakland, CA).
On the heels of the Rheims meeting . . . a memorable exhibition was opened to the public at the Grand Palais in Paris. Apart from a small collection previously shown at the 1908 Automobile Salon, this was the first time that aeroplanes representing the principal French manufacturers were assembled under one roof. Machines that had actually taken part in the Rheims meeting were included so that interested persons who had not been able to attend could obtain a close-up view of the Antoinette, Wright, Henry Farman biplanes, Louis Brguet, and the diminutive Demoiselle constructed by Alberto Santos-Dumont. In the place of honor was Blriots Model XI with which he had conquered the English Channel. ... The huge public response left no doubt that the show would become a well-attended annual feature. The arresting poster by Montaut, the same artist who had memorialized the meeting at Rheims (see PAI-XXIX, 115), portrays in the foreground a primeval figure seeming to be a blacksmith whose trade is hopelessly outmoded gesturing toward those marvels in the sky. The Aviation Salon introduced by France was soon imitated in other countries, giving rise to a series of posters on the same subject (Looping the Loop, pp. 43-44).