24h du Mans 1954 poster – Vintage Car Racing Poster – Geo Ham wall art

24h du Mans 1954 poster Vintage Car Racing Poster – Geo Ham Georges Ham is one of the world’s most renowned automotive artists. His artwork for car racing events including Grand Prix’s and Monaco ensure that Ham is quite rightly  considered one of the finest automotive artists of all time. This superb 24 heures du Mans 1954 painting is a record of the French racing driver Maurice Trintignant’s victory at the sports car racing event. In the 24 hour period Trintignant and Argentinian co-driver José González completed 302 laps of the the 10km course in their bright red Ferrari 375 Plus. The race took place in heavy rain thoughout, as the print highlights. By all accounts, the race was a thriller right to the end, producing the closest finish for the race since 1933. Second place went to the British pairing of Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt in their Jaguar D-Type finishing with less than 5km between them and the winners. For this print Ham has chosen not to show the rivallry between the Ferrari 375 and the Jaguar D-type instead choosing to feature two of the French driver in the race. The winner seen here in his red Italian Scuderia Ferrari 375, wearing number 4 and Élie Bayol in his French Automobiles Deutsch etBonnet blue DB HBR-MC who finished tenth at the end of the race. Other 24 heures du Mans posters The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the oldest and one of the most prestigious endurance motor racing events in the world. The car racing competition now held at the Circuit de la Sarthe was first held on 26 and 27th May 1923 and raced on the public roads around Le Mans. In the 1920s the road racing track was basically a triangle running from Le Mans down south to Mulsanne, northwest to Arnage and back north to Le Mans. Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The popular motor racing event has been held every yaer since 1923 with the exception of 1936 when the race was cancelled because of general strikes in France and a ten year hiatus between 1939 and 1949 because of the outbreak of World War II. This would suggest that eighty-eight posters have been produced to promote each of the annual events. Whilst we can’t claim to be able to offer anywhere near them all, we do currently have half a dozen fantastic examples you can take a look at. Here we will present out personal favourite top three. As they line up on the grid we’d like to start with a poster by Geo Ham produced for the 1956 Le Mans race. The predominently blue poster features the beautiful curves of a Ferrari 375 Plus, racing across the middle of the poster. Behind it is a long lime of competitors contending for positions. A clock face in the top left of the image hints at the race being one against the clock. Cheating just a little bit in second place we have added a vintage print by Terence Cuneo. So, not strictly a poster advertising the event, but cool all the same. This one reproduces his Bentley’s 4.5 litres at Le Mans poster which features Baron André Erlanger pouring oil into his magnificent green Bentley as Jack Dunfee roars past the pits. Superb! In a close race but taking first place is a poster created by Michael Beligond for the 1961 Le Mans event. It features a Ferrari 250 as the main focus of the image. It is shown speeding away into the distance. It perfectly captures the moment the race car speeds past us. His image puts us right there with the other spectators at the side of the track. Original copies of the 1961 24 Heures du Mans poster currently (2021) can easily sell for over $2,500. Some of the other 24 Heures du Mans posters sell for many thousands of pounds. There’s no argument from us, if you can find an original copy and can afford to buy it, you’re on to a winner. There’s nothing like owning an original vintage poster and they often make a great investment. Chances are in just a few years you’ll be able to sell it for more than you paid for it. For most of us, however, an investment, even at the entry-level prices of the collectable poster isn’t even close to being a possibility. This is where our stunning high-quality reproductions come into their own. They cost a fraction of an original and look absolutely fantastic when they’re framed and hung on your living room wall. So do yourself a favour, race on over to that buy button and grab a sure fire winner today. You’ll be celebrating the win for years to come.