Classic Posters, the Olympics, and the Romance of Rio
The 31st Summer Olympic Games are here! This is the first Olympics to be held in South America, and the first ever in a Portuguese speaking country. More than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries will compete in 26 sports.
The Games will be held in Rio, one of the world’s legendary cities and the 2nd largest in Brazil. Despite all the challenges to this Olympiad, the exotic romance of Rio has been undeniable since its discovery in 1565. We pay tribute to the city of beaches, bossa nova and Carnival in original posters from our archives and current stock:
Rio Brazil – Wonderful City! by Joa (c. 1950)
The “geometric wave” design of Copacabana’s boardwalk is beneath the dramatic peaks of Corcovado and Sugarloaf – a brilliant Mid-Century Design.
Rio de Janeiro by Royal Mail to South America by Kenneth Shoesmith (c. 1935)
Rio – Swedish American Line, by Ake Rittmark (1937)
Two Art Deco ocean liner posters from the Thirties feature stunning vistas and exotic Brazilian beauties for the rich and famous who could afford the time and money to make the journey.
Fly to Rio by Clipper – Pan American World Airways by Mark Von Arensburg (c. 1950)
Flying Down to Rio in Five Days via Pan American by Paul G. Lawler (c. 1939)
These are the most iconic Pan Am posters to Rio, one before WWII and the other after. Lawler’s magnificent early aviation poster borrows the title from the 1933 film, Flying Down to Rio starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and shows a Clipper Ship flying over Sugarloaf from behind the Christ Statue on the summit of Mt. Corcovado. The 1950s design is a remarkable day and night view highlighting the city’s natural beauty and a Carnival Samba dancer below a full moon.
Air France – Amerique du Sud by Victor Vasarely (1946)
Vasarely’s poster from 1946 is surely the most romantic of all Air France posters, and reflects the rise of Rio as a top destination after the war. The future Op Art master created a dazzling geometric pattern on the waves (perhaps inspired by Copacabana’s boardwalk) as a Lockheed Constellation heads into Rio at sunset.
Hotel California – Rio de Janeiro (c. 1955)
An ingenious luggage label for a hotel on Copacabana Beach (its location marked by the arrow) that is clearly the place to be.
Beneath the Southern Cross, RIO is Calling (c. 1950)
Only seen in the Southern hemisphere, the 4 star constellation known as the Southern Cross is visible from the deck of a cruise ship approaching Rio. The Fifties were a golden age of cruising to South America for Americans. This M & M Line tour was 38 days!
Rio de Janeiro by Howard Koslow (1963)
An incredibly romantic Sixties travel poster of Rio and Guanabara Bay at nightfall.
Rio – Braniff International Airways by Artist Unknown (c. 1960)
Rio – Braniff International Airways by Artist Unknown (c. 1960)
Playfulness takes center stage in these Mad Men era posters for Braniff, an American airline that specialized in routes in the Western Hemisphere.
View all in-stock Olympics posters
View all in-stock Rio posters
For a History of Olympic Posters:
Picturing The Olympics: A History of the Games In 15 Posters
//www.wbur.org/artery/2014/02/06/olympics-posters
