Exceedingly rare original color 31.25 x 46.5 lithographic poster designed by French artist Jean Droit for the Paris 1924 Summer Olympics. Printed by Machard & Cie, the poster depicts a group of male athletes with their arms raised in salute against a background of France’s national flag, with laurel branches and a shield featuring the Parisian coat-of-arms pictured below. Upper and lower portions of the poster bear large text: “Paris-1924” and “Jeux Olympiques.” Professionally linen-backed, rolled, and expertly restored to fine condition, with some minor surface loss from mounting along the top edge.
Of the 150 projects submitted for the official poster of the VIII Olympiad, the French Olympic Committee selected posters from two finalists—Jean Droit and Orsi. Ten thousand copies of each were printed, and of these 20,000 posters, a total of 12,000 were sent abroad and distributed with the help of the National Olympic Committees, Sporting Federations, and Olympic Associations. Those that remained in France were distributed by sporting establishments, theater companies, and travel agencies. A rare and impressive Olympic poster fast approaching its 100th anniversary, which will be celebrated by the triumphant return of the Summer Games to Paris in 2024.
Jean Droit was a painter and illustrator (1884-1961) who designed several posters for France during the First World War and several travel posters in the years between the wars.
