Henri Le Monnier and his colourful advertising posters
Henri Le Monnier (1893-1978) was a French poster artist. Like some of the other great masters of the French poster, such as Jean d’Ylen or J. Stall, he has managed to stay largely anonymous. His personal life is a mystery. And since so little is known about him, I’m not even sure his alleged dates of birth and death can be trusted.
What we do know for sure is that he created quite a few colourful and attractive posters in the 1920s and 1930s, in a style somewhat reminiscent of Cappiello, initially for the advertising agency Affiches Lutetia and later for Joseph-Charles. Some of these were also made available as postcards.
New Year
This is the earliest card by Henri Le Monnier that I could find. Issued in 1915, it is a New Year’s card for the French soldiers fighting in the Great War. “Les poilus”, which literally means “the hairy ones”, are the common soldiers in the French army.
Poster Adverts
