POSTER PROJECT

Artist

Charles Loupot (1892–1962)
Major French poster artist, illustrator and painter, and a founding figure of modern European poster design. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and later in Zurich, Loupot was deeply influenced by Jugendstil, Symbolism, and the emergence of a synthetic graphic language that would later define Art Deco.

Project Title

SATO – Egyptian Cigarettes
Original maquette / preparatory study for an advertising poster

Date

Circa 1919–1921
Swiss period (Zurich), a pivotal moment between late Symbolist aesthetics and the rise of modern graphic design.

Client / Brand

SATO – Egyptian Cigarettes (Switzerland)
A brand positioned within an orientalist and luxury-driven imagery, highly fashionable in post–World War I Europe.

Medium

Charcoal and gouache on paper
A preparatory work combining expressive drawing with restrained color application, characteristic of design studies intended to validate composition prior to lithographic printing.

Dimensions

(approx.) 129 × 89 cm
(if corresponding to the final poster format or a large-scale maquette)

Iconographic Description

The composition depicts a stylized female figure, part woman, part chimera, evoking an oriental siren or a sensual allegory of tobacco.

• Sinuous, almost calligraphic body occupying most of the surface

• Profiled head with closed eyes, suggesting reverie and abandon

• Cigarette held to the lips, reinforcing the image of refinement and pleasure

• Red headscarf and gold bracelets referencing a fantasized Orient

• Flowing lines evoking smoke, water, and dreamlike movement

• Restricted palette: beige, black, sea green, red, and gold

The word SATO is treated as an integral visual element, functioning decoratively rather than purely informatively.

Artistic and Historical Context

This project belongs to a crucial phase of Loupot’s career during his Swiss years, when he developed a radically innovative approach to advertising imagery:

• Progressive abandonment of narrative realism

• Extreme simplification of forms

• Emphasis on immediate visual impact

• Influences from Symbolism, Japanese prints, and Jugendstil

Orientalism here is not documentary but sensory and suggestive, serving a marketing strategy that associates the product with exoticism, luxury, and modernity.

Importance and Significance

• Original maquette, offering rare insight into Charles Loupot’s creative process

• Transitional work between fine art illustration and modern graphic design

• Strong museum and institutional appeal

• Major interest for the history of advertising, graphic design, and early Art Deco

Status of the Artwork

• Study / preparatory project

• Unique piece

• Framed

• Created as part of the development process for a lithographic poster

• Highly sought after on the art market and by institutional collections

Keywords (Indexing)

Charles Loupot – poster – advertising – cigarettes – orientalism – Art Deco – Symbolism – Jugendstil – maquette – charcoal – gouache – Switzerland – 1910s–1920s

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