MISTI (FERDINAND MIFLIEZ, 1865-1923) POPULAIRES DE DION BOUTON. 1903. 36 3/4x50 7/8 inches. J. Barreau, Paris. Condition B+: repaired tears and creases in margins and image; vertical and horizontal folds. In the early days of the bicycle and automobile industries, production centered around the Parisian suburb of Neuilly sur Seine. This might well explain why Misti, a resident of this neighborhood (see Swann auction 1945, lot 63), designed so many posters for the automotive industry. The Marquis Albert de Dion was a high ranking aristocrat who was never meant to have been part of an industrial empire. In 1881, as he was visiting a store to buy confetti for a masked ball, he happened upon a toy steam engine. The gadget intrigued and delighted him so much that he paid a visit to the manufacturer, Monsieur Bouton, and persuaded the company to apply this idea to producing steam driven cars. By the 1890s they had converted to engines run on petrol, and they continued producing cars until 1932. This classic automobile poster depicts two models, a two-seater and a four-seater. Each is shown with the chauffeur-mechanic accompanying elegant ladies who are enjoying the new thrill of driving.
