GEORGES VILLA (1883-1965) GRANDE SEMAINE D'AVIATION ROUEN. 1910. 49 1/2x35 inches, 125 3/4x89 cm. Emile Wolf, Rouen. Condition B: extensive repaired tears, restored losses, creases and overpainting in margins and image and along vertical and horizontal folds. In the early days of aviation, competitive meets proved to be incredibly popular events and posters were used to advertise them. Here, several flying machines, their wings illuminated by the fiery orange of the setting sun, soar above the famous Rouen Cathedral and the city's winding river and hills. In the center of the image is the personification of flying machines and perhaps the "Spirit of Flight" herself - "a robed female figure spreading her wings in emulation of a speeding monoplane" (Looping the Loop. 59). Looping the Loop pl. 38, L'Histoire de l'Aviation p. 55.
