Poster, 'Exposition Des Allies'

Allies from around the world

This First World War poster relates to an 'Exhibition by the Allies' which was displayed in Paris from about December 1916 to 14 January 1917. It depicts soldiers against a pink background from France, Serbia, Algeria, Russia, Morocco, Belgium, Scotland, Italy, Britain and Senegal, standing in line to read a poster on a wall simply stating 'Communique?' A child holds a poster up at the far right.

It is thought that the artist originally drew the work in 1915, and that the design was later adapted for other locations as indicated by the Peruvian printer of this particular version. The poster has also been printed in two halves then pasted together. The colours vary in each half and do not quite match.

British and American Posters in New Zealand

This item is part of a collection of First World War posters sent to New Zealand as examples of British and American wartime propaganda. From 1917-1919, the Dominion Museum (now Te Papa) collected such war material with the help of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the Department of Defence.

The museum intended to collect and display such objects in a planned national war museum in Wellington which never eventuated. Instead, the museum toured over 100 war posters around New Zealand in the early 1920s in the context of increasing commemoration of the war during peacetime. For many, the posters illustrated important aspects of the war and the history of New Zealand's part in the war. This commemorative function was far removed from their original function to encourage wartime contribution.