Cuteness, Conservatism, and Consumption: Lefor-Openo and Postwar France - Paperback

by Angelina Lippert (Author), Michael Lellouche (Contribution by), Vincent Joigneaux (Contribution by)

In the aftermath of World War II, France faced a daunting recovery challenge. A significant portion of its younger male population was dead or held in prisoner of war camps, its industry was in tatters, its farms and therefore its ability to produce food decimated, and its citizens demoralized in the wake of the Vichy government that capitulated to and collaborated with the Nazis. The French economy had also halved in size since before the war and was further threatened by rampant inflation, leaving most citizens unable to purchase much beyond basic necessities.

The next three decades would be defined by rapid and significant social and political changes primarily brought about by General Charles de Gaulle after he was voted out of retirement in 1958. His vision to rebuild France as an independent global power impacted every part of French life, from its economy to its shopping habits, its moral code to its leisure pursuits. The posters produced during this period, however, rarely hinted at this turbulent landscape. Instead, advertising focused on producing bright, optimistic images that saturated the streets with cute rather than with chaos. Along with major male artists like Raymond Savignac and Hervé Morvan, many of these extreme changes were also chronicled, indirectly, in the posters produced by a new female design team known as Lefor-Openo.

This is the first English-language book dedicated to Lefor-Openo and accompanies an exhibition at Poster House, which showcases the breadth of Lefor-Openo's twelve-year career, using their work as a lens through which to view midcentury French society, politics, and culture.

Author Biography

Angelina Lippert is the executive director and curator of Poster House in New York City, the first museum in the United States dedicated to the art and history of the poster. She holds an MA in the art of the Russian Avant-Garde from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and a BA in theology and art history from Smith College. She is the author of The Art Deco Poster and the coauthor of Wonder City of the World: New York City Travel Posters and Art for Art House: The Posters of Peter Strausfeld. Lippert has contributed essays to Poster Cult on the letterpress designer Dafi Kühne, Steve Heller's The Education of a Design Writer, and 150 Stories by the Art Students League. She is a prolific lecturer and was a recipient of the Emily Hall Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators through Hyperallergic.

Michael Lellouche is a French author, screenwriter, and former film and jazz journalist. A specialist in the history of the poster, he holds a collection of several thousand militant posters. He is the author of Protest! Changing the World with Posters 1968-1973 and contributes articles and essays on the subject, including to the magazine Alternatives Économiques. In 2018, Lellouche curated the exhibition Get Up, Stand Up at the MIMA museum in Brussels. He has also presented lectures on the history of the poster, notably at the Institut National du Patrimoine and the Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA).

Vincent Joigneaux was born into the world of printmaking as the son of a printer, growing up surrounded by the scent of ink and the steady cadence of working presses. Immersed from an early age in the language of paper, type, and color, he developed a discerning eye for printed imagery and a lasting passion for the art of the poster. He specializes in French posters of the 1950s and 1960s, devoting his expertise to this period of striking visual experimentation and advertising innovation. His focused scholarship and collecting practice reflect a deep appreciation for the craftsmanship, aesthetic boldness, and cultural significance that define this transformative era in modern design history.