PARIS/ 1937/ MAI. NOVEMBRE/ EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE

Colin, Paul, né en 1892 à Nancy, décédé en 1985 à Nogent-sur-Marne, Imprimerie Jules Simon S. A.

World’s fairs (or Universal exhibitions) developed considerably with the expansion of industry on the international level and presented the main creations of participating countries. Holding a favored position, the city of Paris hosted six world’s fairs from 1855 to 1937. The organization of the 1937 world’s fair, which had been decreed by a law dated July 1934, laid the foundations for a powerful theme based on the link and complementarity of art and technique. In 1936, the Popular Front government relaunched a momentum that had been greatly altered by the highly unstable French and international economic and political context. The idea emerged to organize an international show placed more than ever under the aegis of peace. The “International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques Applied to Modern Life” was held from May 25 to November 25, 1937. It attracted some thirty million visitors who discovered the pavilions of 52 countries. The architectural union of “the beautiful and the useful” attested to innovative technical challenges. Paul Colin’s poster mixes abstract art and symbolism by representing a face, which some see as a stylized Marianne, the planet earth and, among the solid colors, the blue recommended to artists for the various posters produced. Here, Paul Colin presents an allegory of universal progress in a world at peace.