Messageries Maritimes - Middle East

This dramatic travel poster by Albert Brenet (1903–2005) was created for Messageries Maritimes, the famed French shipping company. The composition shows a massive passenger and cargo liner docked in an exotic port, its towering rigging and funnel dominating the background while bustling figures, small boats, and tropical activity animate the foreground. The scale contrast emphasizes the grandeur of modern French maritime power against the vibrancy of faraway destinations. The text highlights the global reach of Messageries Maritimes, from the Middle East and Indian Ocean to the Far East, Australia, South Seas, and South Africa.Albert Brenet was one of the foremost French illustrators and painters of the 20th century, celebrated for his mastery of marine and aviation subjects. Born in Honfleur in Normandy, he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became an official painter for both the French Navy (Peintre de la Marine) and the French Air Force. His career spanned decades, during which he created posters, illustrations, and canvases that captured the romance, technical precision, and grandeur of modern transport. Brenet’s posters, often commissioned by major French shipping and airline companies, combine documentary accuracy with a painterly sense of atmosphere, making them both promotional and artistic works.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 our posters.