page_title: Maison Devambez
section_title: Devambez and advertising
hierarchical_section_title: Maison Devambez / Devambez and advertising
caption_attribution_description: English: Poster for a bicycle manufacturer printed by Devambez
context_page_description: Maison Devambez is the name of a fine printer's firm in Paris. It operated under that name from 1873, when a printing business established by the royal engraver Hippolyte Brasseux in 1826 was acquired by Édouard Devambez. At first the firm specialized in heraldic engraving, engraved letterheads and invitations. Devambez clients included the House of Orléans, the House of Bonaparte and the Élysée Palace. Devambez widened the scope of the business to include advertising and publicity, artists’ prints, luxurious limited edition books, and an important art gallery. The House became recognized as one of the foremost fine engravers in Paris, winning numerous medals and honours. With the artist Édouard Chimot as Editor after the First World War, a series of limited edition art books, employing leading French artists, illustrators and affichistes, reached a high point under the imprimatur A l'Enseigne du Masque d'Or – the Sign of the Golden Mask and with PAN in collaboration with Paul Poiret. Édouard's son, André Devambez, became a famous painter and illustrator after receiving the Prix de Rome.
context_section_description: Devambez was a pioneering advertising agency. They produced posters, catalogues (for instance a catalogue for Chrysler designed by Valerio), and adverts. An article in the Commercial Art Magazine in May 1928 notes that Devambez had already discovered the secrets of creating a brand: "In direct advertising he devotes particular attention to arousing the interest of possible buyers by objects which are not specific advertisements, but create a favourable disposition towards the advertiser on whose behalf they are produced.'
  During the First World War, Devambez created many posters for the Bureau de Propagande Française à l’Étranger, by artists such as Abel Faivre, André Devambez, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Adolphe Willette, and Jean-Louis Forain.
  From 1921 to 1936 Devambez had an exclusive contract with one of the leading poster artists of the day, Leonetto Cappiello. His most famous posters are for Parapluies Revel, La Belle Jardinière, Cachou Lajaunie, Bouillons Kub, and Le Théâtre National de l’Opéra. Other artists who frequently created posters for Devambez include Lucien Boucher, Roger de Valerio, and Victor Vasarely.
  Devambez also produced books for clients such as railway and shipping companies. These luxurious productions were not for sale, but were given away as promotional items. One typical item, an Art Deco-style guide to fashionable Paris complete with a "List of firms recommended", was published for the French State Railways. Written in English by Jacques Deval, it mimics the style of Anita Loos’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The title is ...and blondes prefer Paris. Four letters, twenty-two postcards, two night letters and one cable from his sweet, sweet Annabel Flowers to her darling, darling, George Sabran.
caption: Poster for a bicycle manufacturer printed by Devambez in 1890
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