FOIRE INTERNATIONALE DE PRAGUE POSTER

This unique poster advertises the Foire Internationale de Prague (the Prague International Fair), September 4-13, 1936, at the Palais de la Foire (Trade Fair Palace) in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Written in French, the poster is designed to attract visitors from France to the fair which promoted exports and trade.

The Trade Fair Palace (Veletrzni Palac in Czech) was the largest building of its kind in the world when it was completed in 1928.  Following the plans of architects Josef Fuchs and Oldrich Tyl, it was the first Functionalist building in Prague. Today the building houses the Czech National Gallery of Art.

This trade fair took place in Prague one month after the 1936 Olympics in Berlin showcasing the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. Less than three years after this exhibition promoting international trade and commercial relationships among the countries of Europe, Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.

Vintage posters present bits of history that continually remind us of what was happening on a small scale in the lives of ordinary people while events that were changing the world were unfolding on a larger scale.  This is what makes them so absolutely captivating.

Condition: A