Air France
61 x 96 cm
This is one of the rarest versions of Lucien Boucher’s iconic series of pictorial maps advertising Air France and its growing network of air routes throughout the world. The series began in the 1930s and was heavily influenced by a series of pictorial American city plans issued by most notably , the firm of Houghton and Mifflin in the 1920s and early 1930s although other publishers quickly began to commission their own versions.
The series became synonymous with Air France and Boucher was commissioned to produce these pictorial maps well into the 1960s. This map is one of the later examples. As mentioned above, Air France heavily promoted their new non-stop route from Paris to New York City opened in 1962 and this was one of main functions of this map.
Boucher departs from his usual double hemisphere or Mercator Projection to show the world on an oval view, giving him an opportunity to introduce a very ornate border. Of further note is the large vignette of a Hippocamp or Hippocanth, a mythical sea horse, also the logo of Air France at the time, loping in the South Atlantic. Including these two features, the map continues with Boucher’s tradition of drawing charming vignettes of exotic cities and people throughout the world as well as adding sea monsters and ships. The Air France network is prominently superimposed on the sky along with several vignettes of airplanes.
Printed colour. Laid on linen.