Rovin
Artist
A. Cometti
Printer
Affiches Camis, Paris
France
Datec. 1924
MediumStone Lithograph
Dimensions46 3/4 x 31 in. (118.7 x 78.7 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.868
DescriptionIn this humorous poster promoting French Rovin motorcycles, a cigar-smoking orangutan rides one of the company’s machines, steering and tooting the horn with his feet, perhaps suggesting that even a monkey could manage it. The Rovin company became famous for its motorcycles during the 1920s; the poster asserts the quality of the fittings on this one—Gilardoni spark plugs and Hutchinson tires. (After World War II, Rovin began producing small, affordable cars.) Little is known about the designer A. Cometti but a few of the posters he produced between the world wars survive. In this one, he appears to have been influenced by the colorful and humorous illustrations of Leonetto Cappiello, also working in Paris. By 1928, when he designed a poster for Gnome and Rhone, another manufacturer of motorcycles, he had moved toward a crisper Art Deco style influenced by the work of Charles Loupot.On View
Not on view
