Herriot et Daladier sur le Champ de bataille électoral Circa 1930

This original circa 1932 French political poster, entitled Herriot et Daladier sur le champ de bataille électoral, portrays the Radical Party leaders Édouard Herriot and Édouard Daladier during an election campaign. It was produced in Paris by the Centre de Propagande des Républicains Nationaux, a conservative political organisation opposed to the Radical-Socialist Party.

Herriot and Daladier are caricatured as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, riding exhausted animals across a desolate battlefield. Windmills appear on the horizon, while skeletons and signs announcing the death of Radical parties in other countries transform the electoral landscape into a scene of political defeat.

A prominent placard contrasts the party’s 272 deputies in 1914 with only 111 in 1931, describing it as “sick” following a succession of by-election defeats. These references indicate that the poster was most likely created around the French legislative elections of 1932.

The restricted palette of yellow, black and white gives the design a striking graphic presence. Bold caricature, theatrical symbolism and large lettering communicate its partisan message immediately, while the literary reference to Don Quixote presents the two politicians as pursuing a hopeless and outdated cause.

A vivid document of interwar French electoral propaganda, this original poster would make a fascinating addition to a collection devoted to political history, caricature, French elections or twentieth-century graphic design.

Original Poster

Politics - Caricature - France

French Radical Socialist Party

Good condition, creases, moisture stain