Edouard ELZINGRE

Renowned for his horseracing posters, Edouard Elzingre (1880-1966) created vibrant, warm and elegant works from 1905 onwards, in which every detail is carefully and meticulously crafted.

A Swiss painter and draughtsman, Edouard Elzingre (1880-1966) took drawing lessons from Charles l'Eplattenier in La Chaux-de-Fonds in his youth. He then moved to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Alongside his studies, he worked as an illustrator for various Parisian publishing houses. On his return to Switzerland, he devoted himself mainly to poster design, while continuing his work as an illustrator, notably for La Tribune de Genève.

In Elzingre's posters, the focus is on a central figure, whether human or animal: a skier greeting the public in his poster for "St.Croix - Les Rasses" in 1905 (one of the oldest ski posters in the world!), an elegant young woman carrying a huge bouquet in "La Fête des Fleurs" in 1928, the profile of a dog for the "Exposition Canine de Genève" in 1934 or a magnificent portrait of a stallion for the "Concours Hippique International" in 1938.

His travel posters are luminous, refined and peaceful without ever being static, to mention only the most famous, Geneva and Mont Blanc (1922) or the M.O.B (Montreux-Oberland Bernois) in summer and winter (1934). In these posters, the train crosses the serene natural surroundings, the colours of its wagons resonating with those of the mountains.