Cuteness, Conservatism, & Consumption: Lefor-Openo and Postwar France

In the aftermath of World War II, France faced a daunting recovery challenge. A significant portion of its younger male population was dead or held in prisoner of war camps, its industry was in tatters, its farms and therefore its ability to produce food decimated, and its citizens demoralized in the wake of the Vichy government that capitulated to and collaborated with the Nazis. The French economy had also halved in size since before the war and was further threatened by rampant inflation, leaving most citizens unable to purchase much beyond basic necessities. 

The next three decades would be defined by rapid and significant social and political changes primarily brought about by General Charles de Gaulle after he was voted out of retirement in 1958. His vision to rebuild France as an independent global power impacted every part of French life, from its economy to its shopping habits, its moral code to its leisure pursuits. The posters produced during this period, however, rarely hinted at this turbulent landscape. Instead, advertising focused on producing bright, optimistic images that saturated the streets with cute rather than with chaos. Along with major male artists like Raymond Savignac and Hervé Morvan, many of these extreme changes were also chronicled, indirectly, in the posters produced by a new female design team known as Lefor-Openo. 

This exhibition showcases the breadth of Lefor-Openo’s twelve-year career, using their work a lens through which to view midcentury French society, politics, and culture.