Friday, October 11, 2024

In 1912 automobile builders Charron celebrated their 10 year anniversary with a brochure inspired by H G Wells’ ‘The Time Machine', setting their current range of cars in various historical periods. Illustrations by ‘Gus Bofa’.









this version of  'The Time Machine' was credited to a pseudonymous author named 'Curnonsky, in fact a nom de plume for M. E. Sailland (1872-1956), featuring a tale by 'Tom Charron' and his journey through the ages, and enhanced by five color pictures depicting scenes from his fantasy tale by Gus Bofa (1883-1969).


1912 France luxury automobile catalog Charron, illustrated Bofa

La Charron is presented in a past historical context "They all come to La Charron". 

the list of famous customers.

France
Princess of Pea
Princess of Polignac
Duke of Rohan
Duke of Nouailles
Viscount of La Rochefoucauld…

America
William Waldorf Astor
W, Earle Dodge
Frank Jay Gould
W, K Vanderbilt
Louis C. Tiffany
Saloman Guggenheim…

England
Duchess of Manchester
Marquess of Londonderry
Lord Kilmaine
Lord Carrington…

Gustave Henri Émile Blanchot, known as “Gus Bofa” (1883-1968) was a French illustrator.

He intended to pursue a military career but gave it up when he was about to take the Saint-Cyr exam. To earn a little money, in 1900 he began selling drawings to illustrated newspapers such as Le Sourire, Le Rire and La Risette.

Around 1906, he created Affiches Gus-Bofa. Building on his success as a poster artist, he wrote stories for the press, music hall reviews and wrote the theatre column for Le Rire and Le Sourire, newspapers that he briefly directed and where he gave Pierre Mac Orlan his debut. He also designed costumes and sets for the theatre.

Very seriously injured in the legs in December 1914 during the fighting at Bois-le-Prêtre, he refused to have his leg amputated and, from his hospital bed, sent drawings to La Baïonnette.

In the aftermath of this war, which left him crippled, he began, encouraged by Mac Orlan, a career as an illustrator of luxury books.

1 comment:

  1. Nice piece of history and charming art work. Thanks

    ReplyDelete