Printer: Mourlot (1 of 1,000 Editions)

Dimensions: 66 x 49 cm

Condition: Very good 

Frame: Oak

Description: Printed in 1959, this original lithographic poster was produced by Mourlot to promote an exhibition of Raoul Dufy’s paintings and gouaches at the renowned Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris. The exhibition was held in aid of the Entraide des Travailleurs Intellectuels, a charity supporting artists and other intellectual workers, giving it a purpose beyond simply celebrating Dufy’s remarkable career.

The image is taken from a series of gouaches Dufy painted during a visit to England in 1936 and depicts the Changing of the Guard at St James’s Palace. Britain held a particular
fascination for Dufy. He was captivated by the pageantry of royal ceremonies and the scarlet tunics and bearskins of the Foot Guards of the Household Division, and returned to paint subjects such as Royal Ascot, the Derby at Epsom, Henley Royal Regatta, and London’s ceremonial life. Rather than recording military detail with absolute precision, he painted atmosphere, movement and colour, transforming these great occasions into scenes full of rhythm, warmth and joie de vivre.

There is another story behind this poster that is easy to overlook. Dufy painted the scene in 1936, during one of the most remarkable years in modern British royal history, marked by the death of George V, the accession and abdication of Edward VIII, and the beginning of George VI’s reign. By the time this poster was published in 1959, Europe had lived through war, occupation and reconstruction. Without ever intending it, Dufy’s joyful depiction of the Changing of the Guard had acquired an added historical resonance. A peaceful ceremonial scene, painted before the upheaval of the Second World War, had become a reminder of the continuity of tradition through one of the most turbulent periods of the twentieth century.

The poster was reproduced by Mourlot’s master printer Henri Deschamps, who worked
closely with Dufy for many years and understood better than most how to translate his
luminous colour and expressive brushwork into lithography.
Whether Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish or Welsh Guards, Dufy was less interested
in distinguishing regiments than in capturing the timeless spectacle of one of Britain’s most enduring military traditions. For collectors, it is a wonderful meeting of French art, British heritage and twentieth-century history – a story every bit as compelling today as when the poster was first published in 1959.

Artist: Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) was a French painter, draftsman, printmaker, book illustrator and designer associated with the fauvist movement. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Le Havre and Paris. His first exhibition was in 1901. He painted recreational scenes including horse races and regattas and his colourful, decorative style was fashionable for ceramics and textile designs. He completed one of the largest public paintings for the La Fée Electricité for the 1937 Exposition Internationale in Paris. It is on display in the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.