'Grand Prix des Nations Automobile, Geneva 1946' poster after Fontanet, Swiss,

Goodwood Revival: Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia|7 September 2024, 11:00 BST|Chichester, Goodwood

'Grand Prix des Nations Automobile, Geneva 1946' poster after Fontanet, Swiss,

rare original poster, one of only five examples known, 100 x 70cm, float mounted within a plain black oak section frame and glazed with UV Plexiglas.

Footnotes

The majority of Fontanet's work was undertaken for resorts, airlines and cruise ships during the 1930s, with apparently very little being created for motor-racing or other automobile themes. This exuberant image promotes one of the very first post-war motor-racing events, the Grand Prix des Nations held in Geneva in 1946. The dynamic styling – red on black – is extremely eye-catching and was to become something of a signature colour scheme for Fontanet in the handful of car and motor-racing posters he created between the war and 1955, when the last motor race was held in Switzerland.

The race held on a street circuit in Geneva on 21 July 1946 was a great success with a 1-2-3 victory for the Alfa Corse team's Alfa Romeo 158 cars, driven by Giuseppe Farina, Carlo Felice Trossi and Jean-Pierre Wimille.

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