Géo Ham 1900–1972 Rallye Monte Carlo vintage poster

Caption Brief: Georges Hamel, who signed his work "Géo Ham," grew up in Laval, France, where a childhood encounter with a barnstorming biplane and a local motor race sparked a lifelong passion for speed that led him to Paris's Ecole des Arts Décoratifs and, by the 1930s, to become one of the era's premier chroniclers of motorsport, illustrating the Monaco Grand Prix and 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside his rally work. This poster promotes the Rallye Monte Carlo, founded in 1911 by Prince Albert I as a "concentration rally" in which competitors departed from cities across Europe and converged on the principality, a novel format designed to showcase automotive progress and lure winter visitors to Monaco's casinos. Ham's streamlined, arrow-like rendering of the racing car captures the same sense of velocity and modernity that made him a favorite among the drivers and manufacturers he depicted throughout his career.

1939

15⅞ h × 30 w in (40 × 76 cm)

Monégasque, Monte-Carlo

Provenance: Collection of William Crouse

Condition: Cond A.