Poster: Grand Magasins du Printemps poster – Georges Redon – 1905 Printemps Department Store poster
This vintage Belle Epoque era poster was realised by the artist Georges Redon to advertise a sale at the now famous Printemps Department store in Bayonne.
Born in Paris in 1869, Georges Redon was a French poster artist, engraver, lithographer, draughtsman, cartoonist and humorist. He was responsible for several travel posters and many posters for top entertainment venues of the era such as the Théatre de l’Opera, the Casino de Paris and Scala. He is also known for his series of automobile prints and a set of six “naughties”, cartoons of mischievous children children
The Grand Magasins du Printemps poster
Some of Redon’s poster’s being extremely risque for the time. His 1904 poster of Liane de Pougy titled Féminissma or his advertisement for the famous Marigny Theatre featured women in dresses that allowed their ‘freedom’ on view to the world.
This vintage Printemps poster is a more modest affair. Front and centre is a fashionable young woman dressed in elegant attire including a long red dress, hat and the fashion icon of the era a red parasol. The huge Printemps department store can be seen in the background with a line of customers attending on the stores annual sales events.
Printemps – a different kind of department store.
The start of the Printemps empire began in 1865. It offered a wide range of products including men’s, women’s and children’s fashion, lingerie, accessories, luxury products, household items, beauty products and food. The intention was to sell innovative, quality products at a low price.
From the beginning the Printemps store revolutionised retail practices. The store marked products with set prices instead of the up-to-then standard method of haggling. It used economies of scale to provide high quality goods at prices the expanding middle classes could afford. It offered off-the shelf fashions rather than custom hand-made clothing. They pioneered the idea of discount sales to clear outdated stock and were one of the first stores to use window models to display the latest fashions.
The Poster wording:
This 1905 Printemps poster reads: Grands Magasins du Printemps, Bayonne. Lundi 7 Août 1905 et jours suivants. Grande Mise en Vente des Soldes d’Eté. Rabais 30/40 à tous les Comptoirs. Les Plus Vastes du Midi de la France. This translates in to English as: Printemps Department Stores, Bayonne. Monday August 7, 1905 and following days. Great Summer Sales Sale. 30-40 discount at all counters. The largest in the South of France.
Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductionS and not intended fine art prints.
The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.
