About the Artist
Gerard Razzia
Gerard Courbouleix-Deneriaz, also known as Razzia, is a French graphic artist born in Montparnasse in 1950. Razzia is one of the last poster artists to remain in an era dominated by computer-generated images. He began his career in what can be called the golden age of poster art. Razzia is unique in that he still uses the same old style to make his posters. He continues to make posters from an original painting, as opposed to computer graphics. His work evokes Art Deco. He is best known for his work for Louis Vuitton. A retrospective of his work was published in 2007.
Over the past 25 years Razzia has created some of the most memorable graphic images to grace the contemporary art market. His exemplary Louis Vuitton series, the Deauville diver, his spectacular 1984 French Open design, his Pasta poster (undoubtedly his signature design), the seductive cigar composition – the list goes on. His clients also include Stetson Hats, Lancia Automobiles, International Pret a Porter Feminin (France), Bloomingdales, Macy's, Harrod's, the Nice Festival and several brand name champagnes and restaurants in Europe and New York. Collectors around the world include Elton John, Jackie Collins and Michael Cain, to name but a few. Creator of arguably the most important ad campaign for Louis Vuitton, Razzia designed the first of his many posters for the their organization 1985. This poster began a 21 year – and still counting – journey of creation for the Art of Travelling with Style. Vuitton is the only account which gives Razzia an absolute carte-blanche to create the image he desires. The result is an impressive collection of some of the most sought after and collected posters in the world.
The stylized brevity of his images are a combination of modern cool and surreal Art Deco, which echo past masters like Toulouse-Lautrec, Cassandre, Cappiello etc. The result is a technique and style which is uniquely his own. He has been referred to as the Toulouse-Lautrec of the 21st Century. Thanks to Razzia's work, the masters of the past, of the post-war era (Villemot, Savignac, Gruau etc are gone) live on into the 21st Century.
