Bernard Villemot (1911–1989) is one of the great figures of French graphic design — a poster artist whose career spanned five decades and produced an extraordinary body of work that perfectly bridges the Art Deco tradition and the mid-century modern idiom. His images for Orangina, Bally shoes, and Perrier are among the most celebrated commercial poster works of the postwar period, and they are now recognized as masterpieces of 20th-century graphic design. Yet his name remains less widely known than his images, and authenticated originals represent exceptional value in the current market.
Life and Career
Bernard Villemot was born in Troyes, France, on January 9, 1911. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and began his career as a commercial illustrator in the 1930s, producing work that already showed the bold, simplified style that would characterize his mature posters. After the Second World War, he established himself as one of the leading figures of French commercial graphic design, with commissions from some of the most prestigious brands in France.
His long association with Orangina — the French soft drink brand — produced some of his most celebrated work. His Bally shoe campaign of the 1970s and 1980s is equally celebrated: bold, graphic, and possessed of a visual elegance that transformed the advertising of a luxury product into something approaching fine art. He won the Grand Prix de l’Affiche Française multiple times and was widely recognized by the poster world as a master of his craft. He died in Paris in 1989.
Villemot’s Visual Language
Villemot’s graphic language owes much to the Art Deco tradition of bold, simplified forms and strong color contrasts — but it translates those principles into a distinctively postwar idiom that is simultaneously more fluid and more painterly than the strict geometric clarity of pure Art Deco. His figures are typically simplified to near-abstraction: a woman’s form reduced to its essential curves, a shoe rendered as a pure shape, a bottle of Orangina distilled to its characteristic rounded form. The backgrounds are typically flat, saturated colors that provide maximum contrast with the simplified foreground elements.
The result is poster art of extraordinary immediacy and lasting beauty — work that communicates its commercial message in a single visual beat while offering sustained aesthetic pleasure to the viewer. This is the Art Deco commercial ideal, carried forward into the postwar world with complete mastery.
Major Works in the Collection
The gallery holds several major Villemot works. The Orangina poster (1973, 27.375 × 36.25 inches) demonstrates his mastery of the product advertising poster: the warm aquatic blues and bright yellows evoke the refreshing character of the drink with graphic economy and elegance. The Bally poster (1982) shows his later manner applied to the luxury shoe brand with characteristic sophistication. The Bourgogne travel poster (1984) demonstrates his range in the travel advertising genre. For related mid-century commercial art, browse the mid-century collection.
Collecting Villemot
Villemot originals are available at every level of the market. His very large body of work means that a wide range of subjects and formats can be found, from small advertising prints to large-format campaign posters. His work decorates extremely well — the bold, simplified compositions and saturated colors work in any interior context — and collector demand has grown steadily as his historical importance has become more widely recognized.
How to Know It’s an Original
Villemot originals from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s were produced by offset lithography and screen printing. Authentication requires examination under magnification for the characteristic grain of period production methods, check for printer’s imprints, and assessment of paper stock and aging consistent with the claimed period. At La Belle Époque, Elie Saporta, co-founder and former IVPDA authentication committee chair, applies decades of expertise to every acquisition.
About the author: Elie Saporta is the co-founder of La Belle Époque Vintage Posters (est. 1985, New York) and a former chair of the IVPDA authentication committee.
Collect Villemot
Authenticated Villemot originals are available from the gallery. Browse the full collection or inquire directly for current availability and specific titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bernard Villemot known for?
Villemot is best known for his poster campaigns for Orangina, Bally shoes, and Perrier — bold, simplified graphic works that are now recognized as masterpieces of mid-century French commercial design. He won the Grand Prix de l’Affiche Française multiple times during his career.
What style is Bernard Villemot?
Villemot’s style bridges Art Deco and mid-century modernism — bold, simplified forms, strong color contrasts, and graphic economy that owes much to the Art Deco poster tradition while translating it into a distinctively postwar idiom. His work is sometimes described as “New Wave” French poster design.
Are Bernard Villemot posters valuable?
Yes, and increasingly so as his historical importance is more widely recognized. Major works — particularly the Orangina and Bally series — command significant premiums. His very large body of work means that entry-level originals can be found at accessible price points while the finest examples trade at premium prices.