Looping the Loop: Posters of Flight

Deirdre Donahue

It's a collection of 102 posters used to stimulate interest in hot-air balloons, airplanes, patriotism and exotic locations from the start of the 20th century through World War II. The color, the talent, the visual inventiveness will make one yearn for the commercial artists of the past. A must for poster lovers.
— USA Today

Library Journal

The romantic appeal of watching the pioneer fliers take to the air cannot be overstated. Although the Wright brothers' accomplishment at Kitty Hawk in 1903 has not vanished from the public memory, the significant early contribution of French fliers largely has. If nothing else, this gorgeous book makes clear the inspiring efforts of the early French fliers (who predominate here) as well as those of the artists who celebrated them in charmingly vivid posters for air shows. Of the 102 posters from the Allen Airways Flying Museum, El Cahon, CA, and other collections shown here, 32 are part of a traveling exhibit that opened in the Smithsonian in April and will travel for two years around the country. As art historian Rennert points out in his foreword, the arrival of flight coincided with a French poster craze, or affichomanie. When the French aeronaut Louis Bleriot crossed the English Channel in July 1909, conditions were perfect for a renaissance in commercial art, and artists and fliers went about inspiring each other. Aviation historians Villard and Allen have produced an uncompromisingly elegant salute to early flight and its mustached heroes dropping bouquets from the skies. For art and aviation collections.--Nathan Ward, "Library Journal" Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\