Eugène Grasset 'Esposizione Internazionale di Madrid' 1893 Vintage Exhibition Poster

A colour lithograph advertising the Exposition Internationale de Madrid of 1893–94, designed by Eugène Grasset and printed by Imprimerie Lemercier of Paris. An allegorical female figure in a sweeping yellow gown and dark patterned cloak stands on a stone plinth, holding a laurel wreath and a herald’s trumpet. Behind her, the domed Palacio de la Industria y de las Artes is visible against a dramatic sky of dark, diagonal clouds. At the foot of the composition, a lion figure crowns the plinth — a symbol of Spanish royal authority — while the Italian-language text announces the exhibition under the patronage of Queen Regent Maria Christina of Austria.

Grasset (1845–1917) was a Swiss-born decorative artist who settled in Paris in 1871 and became one of the defining figures of Art Nouveau graphic design. Trained as an architect in Zürich, he brought a structural discipline to poster art that distinguished his work from the more spontaneous approach of contemporaries like Jules Chéret. His compositions typically feature strong outlines, flattened planes of colour, and an integration of figure and lettering drawn from his study of Japanese woodcuts and medieval manuscripts. By the early 1890s he was among the most sought-after poster designers in Europe, with commissions including the iconic Sarah Bernhardt Jeanne d’Arc poster (1890) and covers for Harper’s Magazine in the United States.

The Madrid International Exhibition of 1893–94 was held at the Palacio de la Industria y de las Artes under the patronage of Maria Christina of Austria, who served as Queen Regent from 1885 until her son Alfonso XIII came of age in 1902. That a Swiss-French designer working in Paris was commissioned to produce the poster — printed by the prestigious Lemercier lithographic firm on the Rue de Seine — reflects both Grasset’s international standing and the cosmopolitan ambitions of the Spanish exhibition. The poster exists in multiple language versions; this Italian-language edition was presumably intended for distribution in Italy to attract exhibitors and visitors.

The composition is characteristic of Grasset’s mature poster style: a monumental allegorical figure occupying the full height of the image, with architectural elements providing depth and context. The diagonal cloud pattern — a Grasset signature — creates visual energy across the upper portion, while the careful integration of display lettering with the pictorial space demonstrates his typographic skill. The colour lithography, with its rich yellows, deep greens, and controlled use of black, shows the Lemercier workshop at its finest.

This is a reproduction of an original 1893 poster, not an Art Poster Archive original design.