Rouxel & Dubois. ca. 1894.

Artist: FERDINAND LUNEL (1857-1933)
Size: 54 1/4 x 38 3/4 in./137.7 x 98.5 cm
Condition: B+/ Slight tears at folds.
Printer: Imp. Charles Verneau, Paris
Reference: Ref: Bicycle Posters, 29 (var); Petite Reine, 48 (var); Reims, 829; Maindron 1896, p. 87; Sport à l’Affiche, 111; Ailes, p. 19; PAI-XLI, 19
Key Words: Art Nouveau; Bicycles

Rouxel & Dubois. ca. 1894.
Known mostly for his humorous drawings, Lunel, a native of Paris, worked for numerous magazines, starting with Tout Paris. After La Vie Moderne (1879), La Vie Militaire (1883), Paris-Illustré (1884), and La Revue Illustré (1885) came ten years with Le Courrier Français. His designs show up even in exotic publications such as Le Moustique in Africa and Pick Me Up in London. This excellent poster, featuring an interplanetary tandem ride, is way ahead of its time, as Maindron saw straight off: "This poster is well done; peddling with verve, on a bicycle which must be perfection itself, two riders carried away by an uncommon intensity have left the earth and find themselves in the middle of the starry sky” (p. 87). A version of the poster, with the design slightly altered and without the address lower right, also exists.