This charming curiosity dates from 1882 and is the work of French illustrator, Albert Robida (1848-1926). I could not resist the idea of selling it in my vintage store and downloaded it from The Library of Congress.
There was a crease down the middle with a tear at the bottom, which I restored.
‘A print from around 1882 depicting a futuristic view of air travel over Paris as people leave the opera. Many types of aircraft are shown including flying buses, limousines and, what are presumably, police vehicles. On the latter are mounted strangely un-futuristic sword-carrying officers that wouldn’t seem out-of-place on the Opera’s stage itself. As far as the get-up of the normal opera-going folk, things don’t seem to have progressed too radically, though many of the men seem to be sporting the same bizarre military-esque hat. To the left of the scene, amongst the flying vehicles, we can see a restaurant, which like the Opera building itself, is elevated to an enormous height above the vaguely discernible city below. In the distance we can make out the Eiffel Tower, which seems to have some enormous structure emerging from its top about which buzz more flying vehicles. One other interesting thing to note is that women can be seen driving their own aircraft.
The print is the creation of the French illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, novelist, and all around futurologist, Albert Robida. Editor and publisher of La Caricature magazine for 12 years, Robida also wrote an acclaimed trilogy of futuristic novels imagining what life would be like in the 20th century. He foretells many inventions in his writings, including the “Téléphonoscope”: a flat screen television display that delivered the latest news 24-hours a day, the latest plays, courses, and teleconferences.’
Take care and keep laughing!
It’s wonderful.
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Fascinating and great reference…always enjoy this type of art.
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Very cool
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It is charming and also amazing. Some of those craft look pretty accurate to me
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Reblogged this on Click And Color.
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Delightful!
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Thank you! What a great story and illustration!
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Thought provoking! 🙂
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This is wonderful:)
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Love it! If only…
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What a wonderful illustration. I went over to your store. I’m thinking of getting it. Love your stuff. Lucy
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That would be a big thrill for me, Lucy!
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
I love this picture and since it is from 1882, I can only imagine what Albert Robida who died in 1926 would have thought about his futuristic imaginings being closer to reality today. These look remarkably like drones to me in various forms! Tells a wonderful story. Great find and save by First Night Design.
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They certainly do look like drones! Thanks again for the re-blog.
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Puff, I think you may be on to a winner here……:D 😀 😀
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I think you may be right, Puff. It got a lot retweets yesterday, certainly more than my Woman Behind the Curtain!
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