Friday, April 5, 2013

E is for Exactitude. The Golden Age of Travel Posters

Exactitude, 1929  Pierre Fix-Masseau.  Dover Press
This poster, "Exactitude," by Pierre Fix-Masseau in the Art Deco style,  depicts the French State (ETAT) Railroad and was so popular in its day with collectors, that the artist could not keep one for himself.  

 It originally was a lithograph, where each color is hand-drawn on a separate plate and then pulled through a special printing press.  The result is pure color, not tiny dots.

Prints of "Exactitide" are in museums in Paris and the the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  The printing process has to be difficult.  If you look at the smoke, that printing step, especially.  

 I looked at this poster for a long time to try and see its appeal, but I am not a railroad buff.  To me it shows power of the the mighty machine compared to the very tiny image of the engineer.

 What do you think?
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16 comments:

  1. GhadeerApril 5, 2013 at 4:50 AM

    It does show how relatively small the man is compared to the machine..

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    1. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 6:24 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 7:02 AM

      Sorry, Ghadeer, too early in the morning to spell correctly. How are you and how are you and the challenge? Posting everyday is a challenge!

      Delete
  2. Lynn ProctorApril 5, 2013 at 6:31 AM

    i like the simplicity of it!

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  3. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 7:03 AM

    Hi Lynn. It's tricky to match the posters with the letter of the day and sound interesting.

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  4. pam levyApril 5, 2013 at 9:48 AM

    I think I see the influence of the artist Leger, whose work includes lots of machine-age images.

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  5. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 11:08 AM

    I am not a machine person except for the racy British sport cars from the 1930's, like the Morgan. Was that the car that Matthew was driving in Downton Abbey?

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  6. AnonymousApril 5, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    Not my sort of thing, but each to their own I guess!

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  7. JoApril 5, 2013 at 2:19 PM

    Can't say it would appeal to me. Interesting how it was printed though. Didn't know how lithographs worked.

    JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

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    1. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 4:33 PM

      Wendy and Jo, I was desperate to find a poster with "E" that I could use. Tomorrow's is better, back to Italy.

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  8. Pam Beers.April 5, 2013 at 3:03 PM

    Your header picture is stunning. Lovely lovely lovely.

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  9. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 4:33 PM

    Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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  10. Susan Gourley/KelleyApril 5, 2013 at 6:38 PM

    I don't see the appeal of the work either. Like Pamela, I love your header picture.

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  11. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 8:27 PM

    Tune in tomorrow, Susan, it's better.

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  12. loverofwordsApril 5, 2013 at 8:28 PM

    And thank you for the compliment about the header photo.

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  13. Hilary Melton-ButcherMay 12, 2013 at 1:33 AM

    Hiya .. your posts have popped into my Reader now! But this poster reminded me of a programme the BBC did recently on Turner and in particular his painting "Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway" ... where it appears to show the future of the industrial age and technological development ...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain,_Steam_and_Speed_%E2%80%93_The_Great_Western_Railway

    Here - the huge locomotive is perhaps expressing the anxiety of life at that time - the Depression, the rise of the Nazi movement ...

    I don't know - but I do love the posters .. and I'm only sorry they've only popped up now - and I'm going through ... it's a great theme:love it!!

    Cheers Hilary

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