Air France – Egypt Original Colour Poster By Georges Mathieu, Circa 1967

Original colour poster issued by Air France as part of the celebrated series commissioned from Georges Mathieu between 1967 and 1969. Initially composed of fourteen destinations and later expanded by two additional posters, the series is now regarded as one of the most significant achievements in twentieth-century French graphic design.

For Egypt, Mathieu chose not to depict pyramids or temples in a conventional manner. True to his artistic approach, he sought instead to capture the spirit of a civilisation through a language of signs, colour and symbolism.

At the centre of the composition appears a form that evokes a funerary mask, a sarcophagus or a hieratic figure. Against a warm brown background suggestive of stone, archaeology and ancient walls, the artist deploys an intricate network of brilliant turquoise signs. The contrast between the earthy tones and the almost unreal intensity of the blue creates an image of immediate visual impact.

The poster stands both as a remarkable example of the encounter between contemporary art and institutional communication and as a highly representative work of Georges Mathieu's visual universe.

Presented in a modern black frame.

Please note a small tear located at the letter “R” of the AIR FRANCE inscription. It blends into the overall texture of the poster and does not affect either the reading of the composition or its strong decorative presence.

Framed dimensions: 104 × 64 cm

Among the posters created by Georges Mathieu for Air France, Egypt is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic. While other destinations celebrate light, movement or landscape, this composition immerses the viewer in a world of silence, depth and mystery.

In the promotional booklet accompanying the series, Georges Mathieu described the poster in the following terms:

“The sumptuousness of Pharaonic dwellings.
Esotericism, mystery, secrecy, the underground, chthonic darkness, the unfathomable.
The brilliance of death. Lapis lazuli.”

Everything is already contained within these few words. The background recalls the walls of an ancient tomb, while the turquoise signs emerge like sacred inscriptions rediscovered through time. The reference to lapis lazuli is particularly striking: this intense blue, associated since Antiquity with precious and sacred objects, becomes the very heart of the composition.

Far removed from a conventional travel image, Mathieu offers an almost archaeological meditation on memory and mystery. This symbolic dimension, combined with the exceptional chromatic contrast between warm earth tones and luminous blue, gives the poster extraordinary decorative power.

More than a travel poster, it is a graphic work capable of occupying a wall like a painting while embodying one of the most ambitious dialogues between artistic creation and cultural communication in the twentieth century.