Oostende - Dover - Marfurt

A masterpiece of Art Deco illustration showing the style, ease and convenience of the Belgian National Railway's rail and ferry service to Britain. An elegant couple is seen disembarking from a train, whose door is the frame of the image. A porter is there to help them with their bags on the short transfer to an awaiting ship. This is the Dutch version. Art Deco Graphics p. 307 (var), Crouse p. 300 (var), Travelling in Luxury p. 182 (var).

In 1928 this strikingly colorful poster was displayed in Belgian stations. This poster advertises the Ostend-Dover ferry link, a 3-hour sea passage by turbine ship. At the Ostend Maritime station passengers could easily transfer to and from trains reaching all of Europe.

The seemingly simple image consists of highly stylized shapes without any depth. The colors are bright and fresh with no gradients. The fashionable passengers, seen from the back, are shown as silhouettes. The transport transfer is presented as very streamlined; subservient staff is abundant.

The black contours of the train's door blend seamlessly with the ship's bow. The poster was designed by Leo Marfurt, a Swiss who had been working in Belgium for several years and broke through as an innovator of the Belgian poster, as Cassandre was in France. Both aimed to achieve maximum impact with minimal means (https://retours.eu/en/40-leo-marfurt-tom-purvis-posters/)

Leo Marfurt (1894-1977) was a notable Swiss-Belgian artist, best known for his creation of Art Deco style posters in the 1930’s that oftentimes fused the elements of Futurism, Cubism and Surrealism. Marfut’s career as a poster artist came to the forefront of the public eye when his now iconic work for Miss Belga cigarettes surfaced. In 1927, the Swiss artist founded the advertising agency, Les Creations Publicitaires which remained influential for several decades. Marfurt has gone on to be one of the most iconic poster artists to hail from Switzerland; in 1929, the 14 out of 22 submissions in the International Poster Exhibition were by Marfurt (https://retours.eu/en/40-leo-marfurt-tom-purvis-posters/).

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition. We guarantee the authenticity of all of our posters.