(World War II) Poster, 21 1/4 x 28 1/4 in. “Chefs-D’Oeuvre de la Peinture au Musé du Louvre” (Paris: Mourlot, July 1945).

Featuring Delacroix’s ”La Liberté guidant le people, this is the official announcement of the reopening of the Louvre following the liberation of France by allied forces in 1944. The official reopening on 9 July 1945 celebrated the return of the museum’s greatest treasures with an exhibition of eighty-three of its most celebrated paintings. The show was augmented with exhibits documenting how they were preserved in remote country chateaux during the war as well as displays of correspondence and documents related to negotiations between curators and the German and Vichy governments over the fate of the overall collection.

Despite the promise of “Tous les jours de 10 a 17 heures sauf le lundi”, the museum had to close its doors that winter due to the lack of fuel.2 It did not reopen again until 1947.

Linen backed, some mild cracking along folds, other minor surface wear.

(EXA 3904) $2,000