Editorial & Advertising

Jean Pagès (1903–1976)

Jean Pagès (1903–1976)

Jean Pagès was a Franch illustrator and muralist. Growing up in the beautiful Versailles, Mr Pagès completed architectural studies before redirecting his creative focus. Mr Pagès explored his artistic style under the tutelage of Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy.

In 1925 Jean Pagès made his illustration debut with women’s fashion magazine Jardin des Modes. A magazine which was founded by Lucien Vogel and published by Condé Nast. The descriptive nature of Mr Pagès’ illustrations made them appealing to advertisers, and so was requested by numerous companies to produced advertising illustrations for them. Companies including automobiles manufacturers LaSalle, and shipping company Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.

However the Condé Nast family soon got Mr Pagès back and kept him busy illustrating for Vogue, both the French and US publications. Just as advertisers saw merit in Mr Pagès’ accurate depiction, the publishing director of Condé Nast praised the Mr Pagès’ legible drawing of garments that helped prevent misleading their readers.

Jean Pagès has created murals for many leading restaurants and supper clubs. One such restaurant was New York’s La Caravelle. St. Exupéry asked for Mr Pagès’ painting to be “bright and gay and depict typical Paris park and street scenes”. The beautifully finished murals stretched wall to wall, and the restaurant was visited by royalty, celebrities and socialist. Regrettably one guest, Salvador Dalí, accidentally scratched a mural with his cane.

As with many early 20th-century illustrators, there is not a dedicated website or book you can go to find out more about Jean Pagès and his work. However, you can find many of his Vogue work on the Condé Nast Collection wesite, as well as some of his other editorial work on the HPrints website.

Jean Pagès (1903–1976)
Jean Pagès (1903–1976)
Jean Pagès (1903–1976)
Jean Pagès (1903–1976)
Jean Pagès (1903–1976)

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Discussion
  1. Leslie Zimmerman

    I am reaching out to you regarding your knowledge of Jean Adrien Pages. He was a very good friend of my grandmother’s. He actually painted a series of porcelain tiles that graced my grandmother’s kitchen. I am hoping you can send me in the right direction to learn more about him.

    1. Hi Leslie, thanks for reaching out. I cannot remember what put Jean Pagès on my radar, and do not have any of my original notes for the post. Not sure if you have found these already, but here’s a couple more longer articles about him:

      https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/jean-pages/
      https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/25/archives/jean-pages-muralist-is-dead-at-73-decorated-many-noted-restaurants.html

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