A New Blue Train to the Cote D’Azur poster – Le Train Bleu affiche – Pierre Zenobel – 1928
This fabulous “A New Blue Train to the Cote D’Azur poster was created by the French artist Pierre Zenobel in 1928. It was published jointly for the Northern Railway of France, the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits and the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, better known as the PLM.
Le Train Blue, officially known as the Calais-Méditerranée Express, often referred to as the Côte d’Azur Pullman Express, was a luxury French night express train that ran from Calais, a town in northern France, to the French Riviera in the Mediterranean during the 1920s and 1930s. It was one of the most luxurious and prestigious trains of the time, known for its opulent amenities and high-class clientele. The French overnight express train ran from 1886 to 2003. It became renowned internationally as the favored choice of wealthy and famous travellers shuttling between Calais and the French Riviera in the two decades preceding World War II. Popularly known as “Le Train Bleu” in French (which became its official name after World War II) and the “Blue Train” in English, it earned its moniker due to the distinctive dark blue sleeping cars.
Le Train Bleu affiche was created to advertise the PLM’s railway service to the Cote D’Azure following the introduction of the new Wagons-Lits LX carriages in 1928. The LX-type sleeper cars were an even more comfortable upgrade to the previous coaches. The L in the carriage name, denoted ‘luxury’ with the X relating to the ten spacious sleeping compartments in each carriage. The luxurious ambiance and fashionable destinations attracted celebrities including Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel, Winston Churchill and the writers F. Scott Fitzgerald, Evelyn Waugh and Somerset Maugham. Agatha Christie published her detective novel The Mystery of the Blue Train in 1928.
With the rising popularity of tourism in the late 19th century, an exclusive train service was established for affluent and renowned travelers. The first version of the train line connecting Paris and the French Riviera was introduced in 1886. This luxurious journey whisked them from Calais to Paris and onward to the last town on the Côte d’Azur before the Italian border, Menton.
Since its inception, the Méditerranée Express has been the luxurious link between Paris and the Côte d’Azur. It comprised entirely of Wagons-Lits sleeping and dining cars, and this opulent train initially boasted teak carriages. However, in 1922, sleek new steel S-cars were introduced, donned in a distinctive dark blue hue, earning the train the moniker ‘Train Bleu’ (its official name from 1947). The blue color harmoniously matched the Mediterranean waters, and the name found favor with English travellers, epitomised by the slogan ‘Summer on the French Riviera by the Blue Train.’ For British tourists, the journey commenced at the Gare Maritime in Calais. Departing Paris in the early evening, the Train Bleu would reach Marseille, Saint-Raphaël, Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, Cannes, Nice, Monte-Carlo, and eventually Menton at the Italian border by the following morning.
Pierre Zenobel’s striking art nouveau poster cleverly uses just one colour, dark blue for the entire image. Zenobel aerial vantage point of the famous train depicts the locomotive, coal tender and three of its Wagons-Lits sleeper cars, curve in a wide arc across the poster. The plumes of white smoke billowing out of the locomotive’s chimney separates the train from the deep, dark night sky. The bands of colour running horizontally across the poster are an ambiguous image. On the left-hand side, they appear to be a bridge, beneath which, the blue train is about to disappear. On the right-hand side, they look more like sea waves lapping up on a seashore, which is reinforced by the inclusion of yachts sailing on the horizon. The stripes also provide the mechanism for the poster text which reads “A New Blue Train to the Cote D’Azur”.
How much is an original 1928 Pierre Zenobel ‘A New Blue Train to the Cote D’Azur poster worth?
Zenobel’s A New Blue Train to the Cote D’Azur poster has become a classic example of Art Deco railway artwork. It is rare and highly sought-after poster and seems to be one that constantly increases in value over the years. In fact, one original copy sold for an impressive £5,250 back in 2011. In 2023, the poster was advertised in an online vintage poster store valued at between £12,000 and £25,000.
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.
For most of us though, an investment, even at the entry-level prices of the collectible poster isn’t a reality. This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original and look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall. Order yours today! You won’t be disappointed!
