World War I Poster - La France Pressera sur son Fils qui l'auront sauvee
Description:
A World War I YMCA poster. The poster's foreground contains a banner with a quotation from Raymond Poincare, the president of France during World War I. The quotation states that France will press against its heart the sons who have saved her. Behind the banner is a shield and sword surrounded by laurel leaves. The poster also contains the names of two organizations, Les Foyers du Soldat and L'Union Franco-Americaine, located in the upper left and right hand corners.
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Les Foyers du Soldat was a French organization that provided relief work to soldiers during the war. L'Union Franco-Americaine consisted of a formal arrangement between the French Army and the YMCA. This organization also serviced soldiers. The YMCA maintained over 1500 canteens in France during the war where members of the military could eat, sleep, bathe and relax. The artist, Justin Marie Georges Dorival, had trained in Paris at the National School of Decorative Arts. Before the war, he garnered increasing fame as a poster artist for tourism and advertising industries. During World War I, Dorival designed posters for the French Red Cross and the Women's Union of France. He also created war time posters for organizations in the United States, such as the YMCA. Throughout his career as a graphic artist, he signed his work as "Geo Dorival." For a duplicate, see http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/2100.
Translation is "France will press against its heart the sons who will have saved her." In lower left corner of poster it reads "Visa No. 13891." The emblem of the YMCA is in the upper left and right hand corners of the poster.
