This striking 1951 maritime poster, designed by the artist Margutte, was created to promote the prestigious French shipping company Société Générale de Transports Maritimes. The composition celebrates the lineage of the company’s vessels named Provence, linking the historic steamship of 1867 with the modern liner of 1951.
The design is built around the company’s distinctive flag, marked with the initials S.G.T.M., which dominates the center of the poster. Around it appear visual references to maritime history and progress: an early steamship representing the Provence of 1867, and a sleek mid-twentieth-century ocean liner symbolizing the technological advances of the postwar era. This contrast highlights nearly a century of evolution in passenger shipping.
Founded in the nineteenth century, the Société Générale de Transports Maritimes played an important role in French maritime commerce and passenger travel across the Mediterranean and beyond. Like many European shipping companies, it developed strong connections with colonial routes, international trade networks, and trans-Mediterranean passenger services.
The poster’s graphic style reflects the clean, modern visual language of early 1950s commercial design. Bold geometric forms, simplified imagery, and carefully balanced color fields combine to create a dynamic and easily recognizable advertisement. At the same time, the historical reference to the earlier vessel reinforces the company’s heritage and reliability.
By juxtaposing the 1867 ship with the 1951 liner, the poster conveys a powerful narrative of continuity and modernization. It invites viewers to see maritime travel not only as a means of transportation but as a symbol of technological progress and international connection.
Today, posters such as Provence 1867 – Provence 1951 are valued as compelling examples of mid-twentieth-century transport advertising, illustrating how shipping companies used graphic design to communicate both tradition and modernity in the golden age of ocean travel.
Original Poster
Shipping Company - Transport - Advertising - France
Printed by I.G.A.P. in Rome
Good condition, restored
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