La Journée Serbe

Artist Dominique Charles Fouqueray France, 1872 - 1956

Printer Imp. Devambez, Paris. France

Date1916

Dimensions45 x 31 3/4 in. (114.3 x 80.6 cm)

ClassificationsPoster

Credit LineGift of Peter A. Blatz

Terms

Object numberPH.39

DescriptionFouqueray’s poster appeals for support for the Serbian Relief Fund, his roughly drawn illustration with a limited color palette evoking the desolation of the snowy landscape scene. Here, the bedraggled Serbian army and civilian refugees cross the Mostar Bridge on foot and in carts as they struggle towards Albania and Montenegro following the defeat of Serbia (an ally of Britain, France, and Russia) by Austro-Hungarian and German forces between October and December 2015. Serbia Day commemorated the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo on June 25, 1389; after Serbia’s defeat, the country was ruled until 1878 by the Ottoman Turks. The event became an important symbol of Serbian nationalism. Fouqueray, a painter and illustrator, was one of several French artists enlisted to design posters to benefit Serbian refugees. He had been made official artist of the French Navy in 1914, and between 1917 and 1924, produced numerous paintings based on sketches made during his travels in the French colonies.

On View

Not on view