Bernard VILLEMOT

"A poster is a drawing, a painting and colours. I'm a painter, a poster artist and draftsman."
Bernard Villemot is one of the most important French graphic designers of the second half of the 20th century.
Through its simple compositions, elegant figures and use of warm, vibrant colours that evoke Matisse's cut-outs, Villemot has produced innovative advertising campaigns, particularly for Air France, Orangina, Perrier and Bally shoes.
From 1932 to 1934, Bernard Villemot studied with Paul Colin, whose advice he retained was "You have to treat a poster like a painting".
Before the Second World War, he worked first as a cartoonist (Le Rire), then created his first posters for the cinema, including Jacques Feyder's "Carnival in Flanders" in 1935. During the war, he worked for official organisations: he decorated the windows of the Sports Commission or made a series of posters "Work, Family, Homeland".
It was only after the war that his work as a poster designer really began: "The pre-war period was my beginning, the war was survival, and my activity really began only after the war, from 1946 onwards", he declared.
He first created posters for La Croix Rouge (1945-46), then in 1947-48 began a series of tourist posters for Air France.
His first Air France posters for North Africa announced his style: large flat tints of colour, minimal lines delivering a simple message, leaving space for the viewer's imagination.
"I may have been the first to treat images in large flat areas of colour, much like Matisse did in painting."
In 1953, Bernard Villemot began his collaboration with Orangina. He created the famous Orangina logo for the brand as well as posters that still remain in the collective memory.
From the 1960s until his death in 1989, he produced posters for Perrier, Contrex, Campari or Bally shoes, to name but a few famous examples. His posters became even more abstract with fewer details and more blocks of colour. Women are often depicted in Villemot's posters: modern, elegant and glamorous. We can see his inspiration sources in his posters of that time: Paul Colin, A.M. Cassandre or L. Cappiello.
The subjects stand out from a plain background, often black, or composed of two strong colours creating a chromatic contrast between them, as in the 1989 Bally poster. The use of sensual and elegant lines create minimalist figures, almost abstract.