Vers Le Mont-Blanc Poster (morning) – Geo Dorival – 1928

Vers Le Mont-Blanc Poster (Morning) – Géo Dorival – 1928

This 1928 Vers Le Mont-Blanc poster design by French poster artist Georges Dorival is one of the most famous and iconic of all vintage travel posters. The poster is part of a triptych featuring the famous mountain at different times of the day, – morning, afternoon and night. The version on this listing is the first in the series and is known as Vers le Mont-Blanc – Morning. The triptych is widely considered one of the great masterpieces of the Art deco period.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, Georges Dorival was one of the most significant and important poster artists of French travel. From 1907 up to the late 1920s Dorival produced dozens of posters promoting many of the largest cities and seaside resorts in Europe. Dorival’s posters offered pleasant and attractive paintings of potential destinations. They were high-quality fine art paintings. Ultimately they were inspiring images that appealed to the general public. His beautiful designs for railway companies were effective and enticed people to travel. Some of his most famous and popular include his posters for Ile de Jersey Venice, La Cote D’Azur and Rome.

The Vers Le Mont-Blanc triptych

The Vers Le Mont-Blanc poster series Dorival created in 1928 is a completely different approach to his other work. The image appears to have been heavily influenced by the Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period. Not only were triptychs a common artistic format during this period, the image Dorival has produced also suggests a modernist, art deco adaption of the Japanese art style of artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige. Each poster on its own is a strong powerful image. When the three appear side by side they create a cinematic timeline of the mountain throughout the day and the image becomes even more powerful.

The three Mont-Blanc posters were produced in 1928 by the Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean (PLM) & the Train du Mont-Blanc (TMB) railway companies to encourage rail travel to the mountain resorts of St Gervais Les Bains and the Col de Voza. The railway itself offers breathtaking views over the Chamonix and Bionnassay valleys.

Over the years many of the original sets have been split up and sold as single prints. The individual posters were selling for around £2,5000 each back in 2015. Less than a dozen Mont-Blanc complete sets have appeared at auction since 2008. More recently a set of three Mont-Blanc posters sold at auction in 2018. The rare and highly collectible triptych realised a sale price of $13,750, (around £10,500).

Despite being a very prolific poster artist, little is known about Geo Dorival. Justin Marie Georges Dorival was born in Paris in 1879. According to Wikipedia, in addition to his many travel posters, he was known for his glass plates for shadow puppet theatres.  He died in Louveciennes in 1968 leaving behind a wealth of poster designs but not a great deal of information! This Mont-Blanc triptych is his most famous image.

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.