French Medieval-Style Opera Poster ‘Antar’ by Rouchegrosse, 1921

This is a French advertising poster for the opera Antar. This poster features a large image illustrating a scene from the opera, showing a triumphant knight on a horse standing on large rock. Surrounding him to the front and sides is a dully colored rocky landscape, and on the left side of this landscape is a glimpse of a battle scene. Above and behind him the sun touches the mountains creating vibrant colors of oranges, pinks, and greens, which creates a dynamic contrast with the bright, blue sky in the background. This stone lithograph was created by M.G. Rochegrosse.

Antar, a historic play in four acts, was written in 1912 & started rehearsal in 1914, but was cancelled due to the death of the composer Gabriel Dupont, as well the war. After 7 years, the opera opened on March 14th, 1921 at the Theatre National de L’Opera, Paris. It was written by the French-Lebanese writer and journalist, Chekri Ganem, about Antarah Ibn Shaddād al-‘Absī, a pre-Islamic Arab hero and poet. Ganem spent most of his life in exile, as he was a vehement advocate of the independence of Lebanon from the Ottoman Empire.

This poster was printed by Maquet Gr. PARIS, 1921.