David DELLEPIANE (1866-1932)

The Drus ; The Montenvers ; La Mer de Glace

1st quarter of 20th century

Oil on cardboard

This painting by David Dellepiane is draft, in small format, for a poster which here promotes the Montenvers train, put into service between Chamonix and the Mer de Glace in 1909. The beginning of the 20th century is the great poster period and Dellepiane was one of the first major French poster designers at that time. This draft is divided into three delimited sections. The upper part, which occupies two thirds of the image, shows the railway with the train, dominated by the Drus. A man and four goats are placed artificially on the left of the image. Below, a circle contains a new image of the train going up to the Mer de Glace.

Finally, the lower part of the poster is occupied by a representation of the Montenvers train station and the Mer de Glace. This composition is ultimately not the one which will be adopted for the final poster. The image in the circle will be different. The collection of the three drafts and the final poster kept at the Alpine museum make for an interesting whole. It allows an understanding of the work of the poster designer, who is also a talented painter. It also highlights the importance of advertising at the beginning of the 20th century, especially for tourist sites like Chamonix.

Inventory number: AG.884