1933 Monaco Grand Prix poster – The light at the end of the tunnel – Geo Ham – Motor Racing Print
This vintage 1933 Monaco Grand Prix poster was used to advertise what is widely considered to be one of the best Grand Prix races of all time. The poster was illustrated by the prolific motorsports poster artist Georges Hamel. He’s better known in poster collecting circles as Geo Ham after the signature he signed on his artworks. Ham often managed to put an unusual slant on his poster designs. In this superb study, the artist has not chosen to feature the race leaders fighting it out for the lead. Instead, the image puts us in the driving seat near the back of the pack.
Ham’s unusual and clever motor racing scene depicts the moment the cars exit Monaco’s famous curved Larvotto tunnel. Ham’s popular and famous Monaco 1933 Grand Prix poster is affectionately known as ‘The Light at the End of the Tunnel’. It’s easy to see why. He has captured the moment when the driver leaves the darkness of the tunnel and hits the bright sunshine. Driving flat out at almost 200km per hour, it takes a second or two of complete blindness before the driver’s eyes adjust once again to the daylight. The cars in front are speeding along Boulevard Louis II. The road runs parallel to the quays along the harbour at Port Hercule, before the Grand Prix racing cars have to slow down for the Chicane de Port.
The 1933 Monaco Grand Prix
The vintage motor racing poster was created to promote the 1933 Grand Prix de Monaco. It was the 5th time the Grand Prix had been held on the street circuit of the city of Monaco and La Condamine. The street race was the brainchild of Antony Noghès, the then President of the Automobile Club of Monaco and a close friend of the ruling Grimaldi family. It had held its first race in 1929 just five years before this Monaco Grand Prix poster was produced.
The 1933 Monaco Grand Prix has gone down in history as one of the greatest races of the Golden Era of motorsport. It was epic battle between Achille Varzi and Tazio Nuvolari. A contest between the Bugatti and Alfa Romeo racing cars and a dogfight between the two best Italian racing drivers of the era.
In an article on the kolumbus.fl website, the writer Hans Etzrodt describes the race. “During the 100 lap race, the lead position changed hands twenty-one times. Nuvolari in his 2.6-liter Alfa Romeo Monza lead for 56 laps. Varzi in a Bugatti Type 51 took the lead in the other 44. Even as the race drew to its climatic finish it was impossible to predict who would win.
The Light at the end of the tunnel!
On Lap 98, it was Varzi who once again sped past Nuvolari’s Alfa to the tumultuous cheers of the excited crowd. He was once again usurped by Varzi as the pair raced up to the Casino. On lap 99, Varzi pushed hard and set a new lap record of 1m 59s at an average speed of a fraction over 96kmh. Not to be outdone, Nuvolari caught Varzi. The two cars entered the casino curve at breakneck speed and in alarmingly close proximity as they approached the Tunnel. The excited crowd were on their feet. Standing on the seats and benches, cheering and waving wildly. The two cars entered the tunnel.
Seconds later Varzi’s blue Bugatti appeared out of the darkness. Nuvolari’s red Alfa followed but his attempt to take the lead blew up his engine. As Varzi celebrated at the finish, Nuvolari, standing on his seat, slowly rolled downhill towards the Chicane. Hans Etzrodt finishes the report. “Black smoke was emanating from an engine oil fire under the hood after a vital oil pipe had broken. When his stricken Alfa stopped, Nuvolari jumped out and while he pushed it all the way to the pits, Borzacchini and Dreyfus thundered past him to gain second and third places respectively. Some spectators and one over-zealous mechanic helped to push the car but since rules excluded outside help, Nuvolari was consequently disqualified. He might possibly have avoided disqualification with a determined objection to this unauthorized help, but he was perhaps too disappointed to really care”.
The 1933 Monaco Grand Prix results
Eighteen cars entered the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix. The entire race was made up of just three car types. These were eight Alfa Romeo Monza racing cars, three Maserati 8CM’s, and seven Bugatti T51s. Of the eight cars that started the race, eight made it to the chequered flag. The first to complete the 100 laps of the 3.180 km race circuit was Achille Varzi in the Bugatti T51 completing the 318kmin 3 hours 27m 49s. Mario Borzacchini came in exactly two minutes later to take second place. René Dreyfus took the third spot just twenty seconds behind Borzacchini.
Monaco Grand Prix Posters
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the most captivating races in all motorsport, with drivers from around the world coming to compete for victory. The intense, high-speed races between cars at Monaco have captivated drivers and motorsport fans the world over. The Mediterranean city with its diverse landscape Monaco offers the perfect backdrop to its motor racing posters. Pristine mountains, sea views, steep cliffs, the winding city streets and the harbour have all been featured on Monaco Grand Prix posters over the decades. And that’s just the scenery! Add into the mix, dynamic and dramatic images of some of the world’s best sports cars, including Ferrari, Bugatti, Mercedes Benz and Maserati, and you can’t go wrong.
There’s something about motor sports that just gets the blood pumping. Maybe it’s the roar of the engines, the speed of the cars or the thrill of the race. Whatever it is, motor sports have always been a popular spectator sport. It has been the challenge of many artists over the years to capture the glamour and excitement of the race in their designs. Over the years many posters have coveted the chance to produce a poster for the prestigious street race. Artists that at one time or another took the top spot on the winner’s podium for Monaco Grand Prix poster design include: Robert Falcucci, Geo Ham, B Minne, Alain Giampaoli, J May, J Ramel, Michael Turner and Rene Lorenzo.
How much are original Monaco Grand Prix Posters worth?
Original lithographic prints of many of the race posters have become incredibly hard to find. They weren’t intending to be kept. usually printed in low quantities, most were stapled to trees or glued to fences, but some survive and now change hands for thousands of pounds. An original copy of this poster was put up for auction in 2015 with an estimated guide price of between £10,000 – £15,000.
Of course, if you can find an original copy and can afford to buy it, you’re on to a winner. There’s nothing like owning an original vintage poster and they often make a great investment. Chances are in just a few years you’ll be able to sell it for more than you paid for it. Unfortunately, for most of us, an investment, even at the entry-level prices of the collectible poster isn’t even close to being a possibility.
This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original, for example, our high-quality 50x70cm reproduction print of this Monaco 1933 Grand Prix poster is available on this listing priced at just £14. And, what’s more they look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall.
Whilst we don’t claim to be able to offer all the Monaco Grand Prix posters to you (yet!), we do currently have almost fifty Grand Prix or Monaco-related posters available. You can see them here.
With so many different designs to choose from, you’re sure to find the perfect one for your home or office. So don’t wait any longer, add a little bit of motor racing history to your home decor today!
Geo Ham and his Art of Speed.
Georges Hamel Geo Ham was born in Laval, western France in September 1900. He is thought to have shown promise as an artist at an early age. It was, however, two events in his childhood that instilled a profound love for speed. The first, when Georges was eleven, was his experience of watching a bi-plane fly over and land in his hometown. The second came just two years later, when a motorcycle and automobile race was held in Laval. The two events are believed to have captured Hamel’s imagination and given the young boy a lifelong interest in machines that went fast.
At eighteen years of age Georges moved to Paris and enrolled at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs (National School of Decorative Arts). Just two years later, he was commissioned to produce his first cover illustration for the French car magazine Omnia. The image was created under his nom-de-plume Geo Ham. By the mid 1920s Ham’s reputation was starting to grow. His illustrations and paintings were being regularly published. His work appeared in the French weekly newspaper L’Illustration.
It was his work in the 1930s that cemented his reputation as the go-to artist for posters relating to planes, motorbikes and automobiles. His output was quite prolific and the standard of his work remained exemplary. In 1933, Ham was commissioned to produce the official poster for the 1933 Monaco Grand Prix. This was no mean feat. Especially as the posters for the previous three events, in 1930, 1931 and 1932 had all been designed by Robert Falcucci, who was also a superb motorsport painter and illustrator. However, Ham’s fresh, new, modern style is clear to see in “The light at the end of the tunnel” Monaco 1933 poster. He would go on to produce the Monaco Grand Prix posters for the next four events. Other well known and much loved motorsport racing posters produced by Ham include his 1938 Reims Grand Prix and 1954 French Grand Prix ACF posters and his posters promoting the Le Mans 24 hour races among other classic European racing circuits. Personal Geo Ham favorites are the Pau 1959 Grand Prix print and his 1934 SHELL advertising poster.
By this time his artwork wasn’t restricted to automobiles. He enthusiasm for speed carried over onto posters for motorcycle and aeroplanes Examples include his superb 1933 Circuit de Saint Cloud race meeting poster and his advertising posters for the Motobécane Motorcycle company. Goe Ham’s poster for 1947 French Grand Prix and Aviation Meeting manages to combine his love for aircraft and racing cars.
In the thirties and forties Geo Ham established himself as the finest poster artist in his field. He continued to illustrate cars, planes and motorcycles well into the early 1960s. In automotive poster collecting circles Geo Ham is widely regarded as one of the finest automotive poster artists of all time.
Georges Hamel, also known as Geo Ham, was a famous French illustrator and painter born in 1900. A car enthusiast himself, he’s considered to be one of the world’s most outstanding motorsports artists of all time. Along with a series of iconic posters for the Monaco Grand Prix and 24 Hours of Le Mans, Hamel also sketched caricatures of many race car drivers.
