Credit Lyonnais - France - Boucher

Created circa 1950 by French illustrator Lucien Boucher, this richly detailed pictorial map was produced for Crédit Lyonnais, the historic French bank founded in Lyon in 1863. Rather than presenting France as a conventional geographic map, Boucher fills the country with illustrations of its cities, monuments, regional industries, agriculture, architecture, costumes, and cultural landmarks.France occupies the center of the composition, surrounded by neighboring countries and the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel, and Mediterranean Sea. At the bottom, figures in traditional regional dress gather around a banner reading “Crédit Lyonnais – Fondé en 1863,” while the bank's coat of arms appears in the upper right. Ships, aircraft, mountains, vineyards, churches, castles, and local products transform the map into a visual survey of postwar France and its regional diversity.Lucien Boucher (1889–1971) was a French illustrator, graphic designer, and poster artist particularly celebrated for his imaginative pictorial maps. He is best known for the celebrated series of planispheres and travel posters he created for Air France beginning in the 1930s. His maps combined accurate geography with hundreds of miniature illustrations, creating distinctive works that functioned simultaneously as advertising, information, and decorative art. Boucher also produced maps and advertising designs for other major French institutions, including Crédit Lyonnais.Printed in Paris by Perceval, this Crédit Lyonnais poster is an excellent example of Boucher's distinctive cartographic style and his ability to turn a commercial commission into an intricate portrait of France.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.