In the earliest months of the War France was perhaps too heavily shocked by the onslaught, and too busily engaged in material organisation, to give much attention to the subject of posters. But for the Journée du Poilu at Christmas-time, 1915 Steinlen, Faivre, Neumon, Poulbot, and Willette contributed designs which immediately set upon French war posters the stamp of genuine understanding of the purpose in view and appreciation of the material at disposal. So, through a long series of War Loan posters, “Flag-day” appeals, and posters relating to every phase of life where advertisement could be a valuable thing till the welcome end was reached, French artists produced an incomparable variety of brilliant designs, in which gaiety, pathos, humour, and tragedy were touched with a characteristic lightness of hand, and often touched with true greatness of conception.
Among those who have done the most distinguished work the artists named above have contributed a large proportion. Jules Abel Faivre, whose “Sauvons-les” has already been referred to at length, has perhaps earned more individual fame by his designs than any other French poster artist during the War. Several of his lithographs approach greatness, and two—the “Sauvons-les” and “On les aura!” both of which are illustrated in this book—can be said confidently to attain it. In its way nothing could be better also than Poulbot’s sketch of children collecting for the Journée du Poilu—“Pour que papa vienne en permission, s’il vous plaît.” This artist has done several other very excellent posters, showing an intense understanding and appreciation of child life. The humour of Willette, exemplified in the delightful “Enfin seuls...!”, reproduced here as illustration No. [31], and the dramatic sense of Charles Fouqueray, find ample material for expression, and in their hands it is finely used. Roll, the more complete artist, versatile and subtle in his work, master of many styles, proved that he, too, could design an appealing poster, as the fifth plate in this book testifies.
The poster artists of France were not to the same degree overshadowed by one great executant as were those of England by Brangwyn. But for all that, a figure stands out before the rest, both by his power as a craftsman and the weight and strength of his individual characteristics. Théophile Alexandre Steinlen was at work upon posters twenty-five years ago, and even then he ranked among the first three or four leaders of this branch of art. Like Brangwyn in England, he is a master of the medium he uses—a great lithographer, whose consummate sense of draughtsmanship and design serves him in the expression of noble thought and in portraying the emotions of a profound, large-hearted patriot.
Mention must also be made of the posters by the distinguished Alsatian artist Hansi—a keen patriot, who was willing to spend himself generously in the service of an Alsace longing for freedom from the yoke of Germany. The German Government offered a reward for information that should lead to his arrest, and issued proclamations to that effect, ostensibly on the plea that he had evaded service in their army, but actually because of the pen and brush that in his hands were powerful weapons which they could not afford to despise. His posters depict the fraternisation of French soldiers with the people of Alsace, and one of them the raising of the victorious tricolour once more over the Cathedral of Strasbourg. All honour to the artist, who, in the face of danger, and a fugitive from death, remained the supporter of a cause still far off from victory—a patriot whose work was full of courage and hope for an oppressed people.
IV.—GERMANY: AUSTRO-HUNGARY.
Though we are dealing in this volume with pictorial posters, it is difficult to refrain from mentioning the poster proclamations issued by the Germans on their occupation of Belgium. Many of these proclamations, of great historical interest, are in the possession of the Imperial War Museum. One of the earliest, posted at Hasselt on August 17, 1914, immediately after the occupation of the town, threatens to kill a third of the male inhabitants should the German troops be fired upon. Another, posted in Andenne on August 21, 1914, states that by order of the German authorities about three hundred inhabitants had been massacred or burnt alive, and that those of the men who were unscathed were taken as hostages and the women made to clear away the pools of blood and remove the corpses.
The most poignant of these poster proclamations are two in regard to the executions of Nurse Cavell and Captain Fryatt. The bill, signed by General von Bissing, October 12, 1915, issued at Brussels and printed in French on blue paper, announces that Nurse Cavell has been shot, with others. Captain Fryatt had also been shot before the publication of the proclamation relative to him. This document, signed by Admiral von Schröder, dated at Bruges, July 27, 1916, and printed in German, Flemish, and French, in parallel sections, reads:
“Charles Fryatt, of Southampton, captain in the English Merchant Service, who, although not enrolled in the armed forces of the enemy, attempted on March 28, 1915, to destroy a German submarine by ramming. For this act he was condemned to death by the Naval Council of War and executed. A perverse act thus received its just, if tardy, chastisement.”