Gustave Fraipont

Original travel poster for the Chemins de fer de l'Ouest - Mont St-Michel

Circa 1900

Gustave Fraipont was born in Brussels on May 9th, 1849. He was a painter, sculptor, illustrator and French-Belgian poster designer. He is a pupil of Henri Hendrickx and Henri de Hern. Belgian by birth, he was naturalized French. Professor of drawing at the House of Education of the Legion of Honor, Fraipont is the author of many books on the technique of drawing. In 1885, he provided illustrations for the series Littoral of France from the publisher Victor Palme. He also illustrated books about Paris and the French regions. He published books for the youth such as Andre the Miller' and Sailor Yves. He also illustrated the Letters from My Windmill, Perrault's Histoires ou Contes du temps passé, Robinson Crusoe', Câline by Zenaide Fleuriot. He produced many posters for railway companies, including the Western and Northern Railways, as well as official documents and paper titles. Fraipont’s poster Pierrefonds, company of the North was reproduced in the magazine Les Maîtres de l'affiche (1895–1900). He collaborated with numerous newspapers and magazines, such as the Courrier français and Paris illustré. In 1905, he was appointed painter of the Navy. During the First World War, he made several compositions for the newspaper L'Illustration, including the monuments destroyed by the war: Halls of Ypres, Cathedral of Reims and City Hall Arras. Fraipont died in Paris on April 29th, 1923.