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Bernard Villemot

Paris, France (Graphic Artist)

Bernard Villemot (1911–1989) was a French graphic artist. Between 1932 and 1934, he studied in Paris with the artist Paul Colin, and in 1945–46, he began designing posters for the Red Cross. In the late 1940s, he began a famous series of travel posters for Air France. In 1963, the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris held an exhibition of his work. Villemot became known as one of the last great poster artists and for his ability to distill an advertising message to a memorable image with simple, elegant lines and bold colors. Three books have been published that survey his art: Jean-Francois Bazin, Les affiches de Villemot, (1985); Guillaume Villemot, Villemot: l’affiche de A à Z (2005); and George H. Bon Salle, Embracing an Icon: the Posters of Bernard Villemot (2015).