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Marseille Porte de l'Afrique du Nord
Broders, Roger, born 1883 - died 1957 - Enlarge image
Marseille Porte de l'Afrique du Nord
- Object:
Poster
- Place of origin:
France (printed)
- Date:
1920-1932 (printed)
- Artist/Maker:
Broders, Roger, born 1883 - died 1957 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Colour lithograph
- Museum number:
E.3642-1932
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case MM, shelf 7
This advertising poster by Roger Broders was designed for the French Railway Company, the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM), between 1920 and 1932. Broders created posters for tourist locations along that route, including mountain resorts around Chamonix and Mont Blanc, and holiday hotspots on France's Mediterranean coast. This poster, advertising Marseilles as a tourist destination, was included in the V&A Art Deco exhibition in 2003.
The image is of a busy harbour, with shiny black ships floating side by side in the blue water, their flags hoisted up high. The landscape in the distance is the colour of sun-burnt sand. In its simplified lines and bold colours this travel poster manages to evoke a mood and a sense of place. At the time of its production, posters like these had a powerful effect on people's imaginations; this was how imagery of far-away places found its way into advertising. This image glamourises not only travel, but also the modern machinery that made mass tourism possible.
