Charles LOUPOT

(1892 – 1962)

Charles Loupot is one of the major creators in the history of the poster, known for his posters for the furniture of the Galerie Barbès, the Voisin cars, Peugeot, Twinning tea, Valentine paintings, Ambre Solaire and above all St. Raphaël and the Canton Furs (Fourrures Canton).

Born in Nice, France, his family moved to Lausanne, Switzerland in 1907. In 1911, he took painting lessons and experimented with lithography at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. The outbreak of the First World War brought his studies to an abrupt end and Loupot was among the first to be sent to the front. He was quickly wounded and sent back to his parents in Lausanne for a period of convalescence. Loupot then resumed creation and, in 1916, his drawings were published in "La feuille d'Avis de Lausanne". His studio became a popular meeting place for a whole series of creative artists based in Lausanne, including the photographer Émile Gos and the writer Charles Ramuz. During this period, he designed more than 60 posters, including the famous poster for the Canton Furs in 1924.

Charles Loupot then moved to Paris and began working for the Maison Devambez. His innovative posters for the automobile company Voisin quickly made him a pioneering figure in design and represented a radical break with the established Art Nouveau style. Loupot and Cassandre, as well as Paul Colin and Jean Carlu, were then nicknamed "Les Mousquetaires" by the critics, and are considered the forerunners of a new era in the field of posters. Loupot was chosen as one of the four official poster artists to represent the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts. In 1931, Loupot founded the "Alliance Graphique" agency with Cassandre, which was to disappear in the second half of the 1930s. In 1937, he worked for the St. Raphaël Quinquina aperitif brand and modified their visual identity.

After the war, he became the artistic director of the advertising agency "Les Arcs" in Paris. He created advertising campaigns for the Nicolas wine house, for St. Raphaël and Vichy Célestins. His meticulous drawings push the limits more and more towards abstraction, as can be seen with the two waiters, one white, one red, on the St. Raphael advertisements.

Loupot's works were made in lithography. He also experimented with one of the first precursors of airbrush. Each composition is carefully planned with the help of models. Loupot's work is marked by the great graphic developments of the 20th century, especially by Swiss design and typography as well as the German Sachplakat.

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