Printed Originals presents
Bernard Villemot Original posters · Trouville 1911 – Paris 1989
He painted posters as if they were paintings.
II · A painter in posters
“Make posters like paintings.”
That was what he took from his teacher, Paul Colin. For Bally he did both: sometimes he showed the shoe, sometimes he painted the feeling and let the shoe disappear. Point at a row to compare.
Show the shoe · Bally, 1979
- What you see
- Two pairs of legs and four shoes, close up
- The shoe
- Centre stage, in full colour
- The colour
- Black ground, pink and orange legs
- Signature
- “VillemoT”, printed in the plate
Paint the feeling · Bally, 1971
- What you see
- Soft painted stones in a pale grid
- The shoe
- Almost nowhere
- The colour
- Greys, ochre, brown and a blush of pink
- Signature
- “VillemoT”, printed in the plate
Colour came first. The product could wait.
How a Villemot poster was made
Villemot started each commission with many small pencil roughs, on leaves about 27 × 20 cm. Then came colour studies, then a painted maquette of about 50 × 65 cm for the client to choose from. Only then did the design go to the printer, usually as an offset lithograph. He named Matisse as his one model, and it shows in the flat colour, the outline and the cut-out shapes. Bally gave him room: in the campaigns of 1969 and 1971, the Bibliothèque Forney notes, the shoe “fades away” into the picture. By 1979 it was back in full view.
III · Bally
From 1967, the Swiss shoemaker’s painter.
Hung at true relative size, in date order. The same design was often printed twice: a small poster about 62 cm tall, and a street poster about 160 cm tall.
-
1977 “Lotus” · small format
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record → -
1982 “Blonde” · small format (we hold two)
Available · from £360.00 · View this poster → -
1986 Crossed legs on brushed grey and red · street format
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record → -
1986 A seated man, one leg up · street format
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record → -
c.1989 “Kick”: her shadow is a man’s leg · small format (we hold two)
Available · from £380.00 · View this poster →
The last may be among the last posters he made.
Seven designs, many printings
Universalis counts seven Bally posters by Villemot, from 1967. Dealers record more, because the same design was printed in different sizes: a street poster around 115 × 160 cm and a small one around 43 × 62 cm. Both can be period printings. The “Kick” design is dated about 1989, the year he died. Three Bally “Kinetic” posters of 1981 that are sometimes filed under Villemot are by Jacques Auriac; his name is printed on them, and they are not on this wall.
IV · Close reading · Bally “Lotus”, 1977
Two women, one flower.
Why this poster
Dealers call it “Lotus” and date it 1977; one says 1978. It shows what Bally let him do. The brief was shoes; the picture is two figures and a flower, with the shoes held like a secret at the centre. The colour does the work: one red, one brown, white bodies, two small accents.
V · Sun and water
Orangina from 1953. Perrier from 1954.
The bottle is never the hero.
Perrier, “c’est fou !”, early 1980s · a couple under bands of colour
Available · from £390.00 · View this poster →
Perrier, c.1980 · the bottles become sails
Available · from £460.00 · View this poster →
Perrier Zeste, 1987 · lemon, orange, lime
Available · from £390.00 · View this poster →
Orangina, 1984 · the peel becomes a swimsuit
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
Orangina Light, c.1988–89
Available · from £330.00 · View this poster →
Bergasol, 1976 · two sunbathers
Available · from £600.00 · View this poster →
Contrex, 1970s · “avec un régime raisonnable”
Available · from £700.00 · View this poster →
The peel and the bottle
For Orangina he built a whole brand image from one simple drawing: the peel. Over the years it became a parasol, hair, a hat, a swimsuit. Perrier got the same treatment. The Bibliothèque Forney notes that in a Perrier image of 1984, a couple dancing on a beach, he no longer claims any logical link with the bottle at all. Our rail ends with one of his last: Orangina Light, about 1988–89.
VI · France on the move
Railways, regions, fairs and everyday things.
-
1950
Philips, “Éclairez-vous mieux” · a child in a lit bulb
Available · from £1,610.00 · View this poster → -
Before 1959
Gitanes Caporal, “Blanc Maïs”
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record → -
1950s
Fontenoy, “Tabac brun”
Available · from £250.00 · View this poster → -
1958
Exposition universelle, Brussels, April–October
Available · from £380.00 · View this poster → -
1967
The Côte d’Azur by the French Railways, English edition
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record → -
Early 1980s
Crosse & Blackwell · a tomato for a hat
Available · from £770.00 · View this poster → -
1984
La Bourgogne · a TGV between tapestry patterns
Available · from £650.00 · View this poster → -
1989
Loto, “Super cagnotte des beaux jours”
Available · from £260.00 · View this poster → -
May 1989
Floralies Internationales, Nantes · flowers made of flags
Sold · Printed Originals Archive · View the record →
His last spring was in flowers.
Public posters
Villemot’s career ran from cinema bills in the 1930s, through government commissions, to the state loans, railways and airlines of the post-war boom. The Bibliothèque nationale calls him a poster artist of the Trente Glorieuses. Railway and tourism posters were often printed in several languages; ours is the English edition of a design the Bibliothèque Forney dates to 1967. The Floralies poster announced a show that opened in May 1989. He died that July.
VII · Signatures
Read the margins before the picture.
Every Villemot poster we hold is signed in the plate: his brush signature is part of the design. Two of ours were printed after his death in July 1989, from his designs.
Plate-signed
His signature is painted into the design and printed with it, so every copy carries it. Printed in his lifetime, from his own artwork: an original Villemot poster.
On this poster: the brush “VillemoT” in white on the brown ground, Contrex, 1970s. Available · from £700.00 · View this poster →
Show all 31 in the archive ↓
After Villemot
Printed after his death from one of his designs, usually by the brand itself. A real poster, and his picture, but not a period printing.
On this poster: the publisher’s line “Édité par la Source Perrier”, printed small up the left edge, 1995. Available · from £360.00 · View this poster →
Show all 2 in the archive ↓Hand-signed
Signed by Villemot in pencil on the copy itself, usually in the margin and sometimes dated or numbered. Only possible in his lifetime. None of the posters we hold is hand-signed.
VIII · The Printed Originals Villemot archive
Every Villemot poster we have held.
25 available now · 9 sold. Each poster is marked plate-signed or after, and split by when it was printed. Sold posters show no price.
IX · Collecting
Five questions before you buy.
Hand-signed, plate-signed and after: what do the terms mean?
Plate-signed: his brush signature is part of the design and printed on every copy. Hand-signed: signed by him in pencil on that copy, in his lifetime. After Villemot: printed after his death in July 1989 from his design, usually by the brand.
How do I know it was printed in his lifetime?
Check the printer’s line, the wording and the format against the design’s date. Period printers include Lalande Courbet and Perceval. A later printing often names the brand as publisher. When the evidence is thin we say so on the listing.
Large or small format?
Many designs exist in both: a street poster of around 115–120 × 160–175 cm, and a small format of around 43–46 × 60–66 cm. Large posters were often folded for posting. Both can be period printings.
Are later printings worth buying?
They are genuine posters printed by or for the brand, but they are not period printings. We label them “After Villemot” and price them as such. Modern reproductions are a different thing again; we do not sell them.
Can I see the signature and imprint before I buy?
Yes. Ask us and we will send detailed photographs of the signature, the margins, the printer’s line and the condition of any poster.
Condition and framing
We grade condition in six steps and describe every mark (condition grading). Framing is optional, and all our framing is conservation framing (framing original posters).