Touraine Chateau de Chambord c1910 French Travel Advertising Poster, Louis Tauzin

This vintage French travel poster, titled Touraine – Château de Chambord, was created around 1910 by noted landscape painter and chromolithographer Louis Tauzin (1842–1915). Commissioned by the Chemins de Fer d'Orléans (Orléans Railway), the poster was part of a broader campaign promoting rail travel to France’s most scenic and historic destinations.

Depicted in rich color and romantic detail, the Château de Chambord stands at the heart of the Loire Valley, in the region of Touraine. Built in the 16th century by King Francis I as a royal hunting lodge, the château is celebrated for its immense scale and remarkable fusion of French medieval tradition with classical Renaissance architecture — a symbol of royal ambition and artistic innovation.

Tauzin, a prolific figure in the golden age of French poster art, was widely known for his work promoting tourism, leisure, and commerce. As head of studio at the esteemed Parisian lithography house Champenois, he played a key role in shaping the visual identity of early 20th-century French advertising. His poster for Touraine – Château de Chambord exemplifies the elegance and allure that made the French railway posters of this period so enduringly iconic.

▼France has a long and rich history in poster design that dates back to the mid-19th century.... CLICK TO READ MORE

One of the most influential figures in the development of vintage posters was the French poster artist Jules Chéret. Around 1866, Chéret is credited with producing the first colour lithograph posters, using a technique he refined from the black and white process first invented by German actor and playwright Alois Senefelder in 1798. Cheret's three stone lithographic process allowed artists to achieve every colour in the rainbow using just three stones - usually red, yellow and blue - printed in careful registration.

The Parisian artists, headed by Cheret and including masters Steinlen, Willette, Grasset, Bonnard, Forain and, last but certainly not least, Toulouse-Lautrec's vibrant and eye-catching designs influenced, in part, by Japanese Woodcuts brought a new level of visual appeal to the streets of Paris and, in turn, established the poster as an art form.

The Belle Époque (Beautiful Era), a period of peace and frivolity in France from the late 19th to the early 20th century (1870-1914), played a significant role in the continued advancement of poster design. This era coincided with economic growth and the rise of a new middle class with disposable income and leisure time. It was during this time that the poster craze took hold in France, with posters being used for advertising various products, events, and entertainment.

Over the decades that followed from these auspicious beginnings French poster design continued to flourish and designers from around the world followed suit in experimenting with poster design for advertisements for cultural events, travel, film, food and drink and more.

This original vintage travel poster has been professionally linen-backed and is sized 28 3/4 x 41 1/8 inches (plus a couple more inches for the linen). It will be sent rolled (unframed).

• Year: c1910
  
• Poster Type: French Railway Travel Poster
  
• Style: -
• Art By: Louis Tauzin
  
• Rolled/Folded/Other: Rolled Linen-backed
  
• Condition: Near Mint/Mint
  
• Condition Details: Originally rolled, now professionally linen-backed. Original tax stamp. Looks superb.