En Manoeuvres. Le Tracteur Châtillon-Panhard.

The Tracteur Châtillon-Panhard, or sometimes called Panhard-Châtillon, was a pioneering all-wheel drive vehicle developed from around 1910 by the French motor manufacturing company of Panhard Levassor and the French military. Following extensive trials of a number of such vehicles, the Châtillon-Panhard proved the most successful, and 50 were ordered in 1914 for use by the artillery. Capable of towing up to 15 tonnes, they replaced horses to haul heavy guns at the battle of the Marne, as depicted here.

Ernest Montaut (1878-1909) was an innovative French poster designer whose all-too-short career captured the exhilarating new world of motorised transport, whether in the air, on the water, or especially at high speed on the ground. He introduced the stylistic conceits of close horizontal lines and forward-leaning perspective in his vehicles, for instance, to exaggerate the sense of rapid motion. This period from the mid-1890s saw not only the rapid evolution of the car, but also the application of the internal combustion engine to boat design, as well as being fundamental in making possible the whole new concept of powered flight.

Montaut was joined in this endeavour by his wife, Marguerite (1883-1936), who expanding the range of earlier motoring posters to include aviation. She occasionally signed herself as M. Montaut, but more often as Gamy, an anagram of her familiar name, Magy. Following her husband's untimely death at the age of only 31, Marguerite continued their good work in the same distinctive and highly appealing style. This centred on the bold flat colours of the pochoir printing technique they mastered so well. Outlines and any text were printed lithographically, then corresponding stencils carefully prepared to allow in-filling by hand in watercolour and gouache, employing a number of artists for the purpose, leading to subtle variations in colour in each painstaking example, often taking days to complete. It is this combination of factors that gives these highly attractive prints their superlative quality.