Holidays in France | 1950s

Holidays in France, 1950s, by Paulin

This vibrant mid-century poster shows a cheerful group relaxing in a shaded garden, framed by deep foliage that opens onto a bright green lawn and a sunlit villa. A man reclines in the foreground, surrounded by elegantly dressed women and children, with details such as soda bottles, flowers, and patterned fabrics conveying a scene of leisure and affluence. In the background, a rowing boat glides across a small lake, reinforcing the atmosphere of idyllic summer escape.

The poster was produced to promote holiday travel to France by UAT (Union Aéromaritime de Transport), a French airline that operated long-distance passenger flights between the 1940s and 1960s. As postwar tourism increased, UAT and other carriers commissioned colourful promotional posters aimed at an emerging middle-class public eager to embrace international leisure travel. The imagery here reflects the optimistic tone of the era—France as a land of sunshine, refinement and relaxation—geared toward affluent domestic and international tourists, especially in an age when air travel was still a luxury experience.

Unfortunately, little is recorded about the artist Paulin, though his signature appears on several posters produced for UAT during the 1950s.