Colour lithograph
120 x 160cm
1938
In 1936 Loupot had been commissioned by the aperitif company St-Raphaël to produce an updated image of the brand for the 1937 International Exhibition held in Paris. The following year, Loupot designed another variant of the design, this time showing the two servers swinging on chairs on a terrace. Clad in red and white, each waiter is a visual reminder of the products sold by the company, reasserted in the red and white bottles on the table. In order to produce the poster’s delicate modelling of colour, Loupot used an aerograph, an early form of airbrush. Through this technique, Loupot was able to both achieve the illusion of varied depth for the figural group, and also fill the background with a mysterious cloud of gradated colour. The seated figures, with their heavily delineated hands, are reminiscent of the hugely popular designs produced by Loupot’s rival A. M. Cassandre for the aperitif brand Dubonnet.