Marin-marie (1901-1987) Colombia For The C.g.t. Lithograph Poster. Painter For The Navy

SUPERB and authentic lithographed poster by Marin-Marie depicting the ocean liner Colombie for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. Titled at the top: Cie Gle Transantlantique, at the bottom: Colombie, and signed in the plate Marin Marie. Total dimensions including frame: 55 x 77 cm, and size of the lithographed plate excluding margins: 44 x 64 cm. Very good original condition, delivered in its period natural wood frame. Even more impressive in person, as the reflections in the glass do not allow for optimal reproduction. Guaranteed authentic and original artwork. PS: I also have a bronze medal depicting the Colombie for the C.G.T. in its original case, which I am selling for €40. I hardly need to introduce Marin-Marie, the celebrated French painter and writer, renowned for his seascapes and ship views, appointed official painter of the Navy in 1935. Marin-Marie, pseudonym of Marin de Saint-Front, was born on December 10, 1901, in Fougerolles-du-Plessis (Mayenne) and died on June 11, 1987, in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët (Manche). He was a French writer, marine painter, and sailor. Marin-Marie's pseudonym is composed of his first and middle names, Marin and Marie, his middle name also being that of his mother, who died in 1913. He attended the Collège Saint-Charles in Saint-Brieuc, now a combined high school and middle school, with Émile Daubé as his drawing teacher. Later, as a student in Rennes, he earned a doctorate in law. He also attended evening classes at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1923-1924, he exhibited at the Devambez Gallery in Paris. He performed his military service on the Pourquoi-Pas? under Commander Charcot, which was tasked with search and rescue missions on the Arctic ice floes. He was an unskilled seaman on Commander Charcot's ship in 1925. The two men formed a deep friendship. Charcot nicknamed Marin Durand "Marand Durin." He asked to stay on, no longer as a stoker, but as a cameraman. He filled sketchbooks during two expeditions and exhibited alongside Foujita and Maurice Utrillo. He then made a film and brought back from these expeditions about fifteen sketchbooks that would later inspire his paintings. Marin-Marie was passionate about yachting, regattas, and solo sailing. He crossed the Atlantic on Winibelle II in May 1933, departing from Douarnenez where he tested twin staysails to sail without a helmsman to Madeira, Martinique, and New York, arriving on August 17, 1933. He was the second Frenchman, after Alain Gerbault, another native of Mayenne, to cross the Atlantic solo under sail. He oversaw the construction of the motor launch L'Arielle. In June 1936, in Le Havre, alongside the Normandie, he assembled the "smallest and largest transatlantic vessels in the world." The launch was then taken aboard the Champlain. Marin Marie completed the Atlantic crossing in 19 days from New York on the diesel-powered launch. He was one of the few Frenchmen to receive the Blue Water Medal for this solo crossing. These passions were combined with his life as a painter, inventor, and designer of industrial and naval aesthetics. As a consultant for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, which had the T6 (later renamed Normandie) under construction in Saint-Nazaire, he redesigned its funnels, giving them a very distinctive aerodynamic profile, and added a third, dummy funnel containing only the kennels, to balance the silhouette of this ocean liner, which was an absolute masterpiece of shipbuilding. Marin-Marie also participated in numerous gallery exhibitions. He divided his time between Paris, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, Fougerolles-du-Plessis, and Chausey, where he always returned. After the Second World War, he brought in Mr. Gérouard, a fellow native of Fougerolles-du-Plessis, to run the farm on the island. He was appointed official painter of the French Navy in 1935. Mobilized as a reserve officer specializing in interpretation and ciphers (ORIC), he embarked in 1940 on the battleship Strasbourg and witnessed the destruction of part of the French fleet by the British at Mers-el-Kébir. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre at the division level on July 22, 1940. Two months later, aboard the destroyer Le Fantasque, he witnessed the Anglo-French attempt to land at Dakar. From 1942 onward, he only made a few cruises as a naval painter or with his family. He was awarded the Order of the Francisque by the Vichy regime, as was his brother Yves-Marie, a frigate captain. In 1945, Marin-Marie published, in English, Wind aloft-wind alow, an illustrated account of his two solo crossings, and regularly participated in the Salon de la Marine (French Naval Exhibition). He works in oil, gouache, drawing, and watercolor. He has illustrated books and created posters. He was made an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1950