Book Review: Monaco Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco Posters by William W. Crouse

Monaco, the jewel of F1 is on again this weekend (minus Fernando of course who will be hoping he finishes better in Indy than Jenson finishes on Sunday).

William Crouse is one the few collectors in the world who has managed to amass all Monaco race posters. His book “Monaco Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco Posters” compiles and describes the development of the famous Monaco Grand Prix posters from the earliest races up to Jenson Button’s McLaren win in 2009. F1 collectors will probably be familiar with the rarer Art Deco posters of the 1930s races featuring the Bugatti, Maserati’s, Auto Union and Silver Arrows.

The chapters of the book are divided into various eras:

1. Introduction by the author
2. History – 5 pages of brief history of the race and the poster design processes of the time.
3. 1929-1937 – ‘racing’s golden age’ (and arguably the golden age of Monaco posters)
4. 1948-1957 – ‘the fangio era’ (posters a perhaps more cartoonish
5. 1958-1983 – ‘British supremacy’ (the Turner era of the late 60’s and detailed stencils of the 70’s)
6. 1984-1993 – ‘prost-senna rivalry’ (defect ads for Marlboro McLarens)
7. 1994-2004 – ‘superstar Michael schumacher’ (Schumi posters but lacking the artistry of the 70’s)
8.2005-2009 – ‘the youngest champions’ (all anonymous CAD style lithographs)

In my opinion, the real attraction of the book is the background history to the various poster artists particularly the iconic lithographs of the early era Robert Falcucci (fan of all modern retro interior decorators), Georges Hamel (artist of the super rare posters) and Bernard Minne (at the request of Prince Rainier).  The Monaco posters from 1998 onwards are somewhat sterile photos compared to the bold and flowing brushstrokes of the posters of the 30’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Books on F1 art and paintings can be a little emotionally detaching as it is very difficult to capture the history and emotion of an actual race photo. Some of Michael Turner’s art might be an exception, see his book “Formula One the cars and drivers“. William Crouse however manages to combine appreciation of each of the artists (Falcucci, Hamel, Minne, Ramel, Leuenberger, Lorenzi, Belegond, May, Turner, Maestri, Carpenter, Silvy, Hugon, Giampaoli, Grognet,  Lecomte and the background history to design of their poster work and weave into the history of that actual race that year.

Being a hardcover, this book is well bound with a cloth spine and heavy grade paper.

If you are an admirer of Monaco poster ad, this is a great coffee table book addition. The blend of F1 art history and the actual race itself is unique. More unique, it’s a book written by a collector to share his research and the posters with other collectors and the public. Thumbs up, William!

Wow factor/Money shot: photos of the first Monte Carlo rally poster from 1911
Suitable for: F1 history fans