Title: Aviation Populaire
Artist: Geo Ham
Year of Publication: c. 1937
Publisher:
Language: French
Size:
Index Number: 00306

Description:

This poster solicits French youth to fly the blue skies.  The caption reads:  “France calls its youth to aviation”.

A statuesque pilot in uniform points toward planes flying in the sky.  The pilot’s gaze mirrored by a triangular formation of jets above his head, points to various modes of flight, from monoplanes to gliders and model planes.  Below the pilot, young French boys play with model planes, a precursor to a career in aviation.

This poster was also printed for the Vincennes air Show Exposition Internationale with a caption describing the events.  The Exposition Internationale took place in Paris in 1937, lasting from May 24 to November 15, 1937, and drawing 34 million visitors.  The exhibition events included Internationale Floralies, motorboat races on the Seine, a dance festival, boxing matches, a grape harvest, sporting championships, and fairyland on the Seine.  Special marvels created for the Exposition included a new modern art museum, palace of light, palace of discovery, illuminated Seine, incandescent Eiffel Tower, and a Planetarium.

The exposition arrived during an intense time in Europe, the rise of Nazism in Germany and Fascism in Italy.  A quote from Arthur chandler encapsulates the humane power of the Exposition Internationale:  “The international exposition in Paris would be the final European ritual of peace and progress before the deluge”.

International expositions were meeting places for ideas, trade, and technology.  The first such meeting took place in London in 1851.  The magnitude of these fairs further promoted the events.  Developments in industry orchestrated these fairs as a necessity for peasants and townsmen eager to increase and share pertinent knowledge.  The international expositions had significant cultural and political effects and improved relations between nations.  But the 1930’s were marked with an uncertain future.  The impact of two world wars and the stock crash of 1929 affected the expositions.  During the 1930’s expositions provided a healthy outlet for competition and European nationalism.