MAURICE LAURO (1878-?) CHAMPIGNEULLES. 1928.

61 1/2x45 1/2 inches. Gossart, Paris.
Condition B+: vertical and horizontal folds; staining in lower left corner; creases in margins and image.
Lauro was a successful magazine illustrator who specialized in fashion. Among the few posters he designed are two of the most appealing tourist posters of the roaring twenties, Trouville (see Swann, Chassaing Collection, catalogue 1978, lot 64), and Cannes / Casino de la Mediterrannee. He also executed several commercial commissions that are equally charming, all featuring young, vibrant, trendy people. Here he is attempting a different approach, depicting a close-up of two glasses of beer held by unseen, smoking men. His concept is good in that the strict use of the diagonal is graphically efficient, the typography follows the curve of the café table, and the background represents the French national colors. Not in Litfass.