Ste Croix Les Rasses poster. Schweizer Jura Suisse affiche. – Francois Louis Jacques – 1905
The artist Francois Louis Jacques is best known for his watercolour paintings of the Swiss countryside and in particular the Jura landscape. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only travel or skiing poster he illustrated. Jacques created the poster sometime around 1905 for the Swiss Federal Railways, known in Germany as the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen or SBB, and in other countries as the CFF and FFS.
The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) was founded in 1902, in Bern, just three years before this stunning poster was published. Because the railway was such a recent introduction to the Jura region, it’s a bit surprising that an image of an SBB locomotive, train or Jura railway station isn’t incorporated in the image. Instead, the Swiss artist, Jacques, has focussed on the railway’s customers. The people the poster was intended to attract and the type of guest the railway would eventually transport in large numbers, to the top of the Jura mountain peaks. The poster also highlighted the stunning scenery and snow-covered views that would welcome them upon their arrival. The.
The muted colors and simple composition give the image a peaceful feeling, making it an ideal way to promote tourism to the region. Thanks to posters like this one, the Jura region quickly became a popular destination for Swiss and international visitors alike. the train would transport to the mountain peaks of Jura and the views that would welcome them on arrival.
The poster depicts a lone skier standing on a mountaintop in the ski resort of Sainte Croix les Rasses. He’s simply soaking up the stunning scenery before him. The view incorporates miles of fresh white snow-covered fields for as far as the eye can see and snow-capped mountains dotted with pine forests. The poster is enhanced by the snowstorm the skier is standing in giving the image an impressionist art style feel to it. The poster captures the hobby or sport in its infancy. There’s no safety gear, winter clothing or crash helmets to be seen here and the gentleman is only using one ski pole.
The text on the poster reads: Ste-Croix-Les Rasses. Schweizer Jura. Prachtvolle Bergbahn das ganze Jahr geöffnet. Dontaggs ausgenommen. This translates into English as ‘Ste-Croix-Les Rasses. Jura, Switzerland. Magnificent Mountain Railway open all year. Except Thursdays.
The poster’s scarcity ensures that it commands high sale prices when original copies turn up at auction. The most recent we could find sold for £5,250 more than a decade ago. So, who knows what it would be worth today.
Sainte-Croix – Les Rasses the resort today
Located in the heart of the Jura Vaudois at an altitude of 1150 m , the ski resort of Sainte-Croix – Les Rasses is prized for its landscapes. Its superb skiing area consists of 8 hectares of snow on the plateau of the balcony of the Jura and 30km of tracks. The resort offers views of the Alps, Mont Blanc and Lake Neuchâtel.
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 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 £15. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.
