- Title: Provins La Tour de Cesar
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Author: Yvonne Jean-Haffen
- Date: 1920
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Condition: Very fine - laid to linen
- Inches: 24 3/8 x 39 3/8 [Paper]
- Centimeters: 61.91 x 100.01 [Paper]
- Product ID: 308418
A beautiful and scarce French travel poster illustrating two goat herders standing beneath apple trees near a historic landmark of the town.
La Tour César is a prominent medieval tower located in the town of Provins, France, built in the 12th century during the reign of Henry the Liberal, Count of Champagne. It served as a defensive stronghold, watchtower, prison, and bell tower, symbolizing the power of the Counts of Champagne and the strategic importance of Provins as a medieval trading center.
The tower stands about 190 feet tall with a cylindrical shape and thick limestone walls, featuring narrow arrow slits for defense. It has four main levels: the ground floor was used for storage and stabling horses, the first-floor housed guards, the second floor contained the Great Hall for official ceremonies, and the top floor served as a lookout post offering panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. The tower is unique as the only known square-based octagonal dungeon tower and was part of larger fortifications that protected Provins.
Background on Creator
Yvonne Jean-Haffen (1895–1993) was a French painter, illustrator, engraver, and ceramicist, renowned for her deep connection to Brittany and her significant contributions to 20th-century French art. Born in Paris to a family from eastern France, she developed a passion for painting early on and studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, later becoming a student of Auguste Leroux. In 1925, she met Mathurin Méheut, who became her mentor, collaborator, and close friend, introducing her to Brittany, which became a central theme in her work.
Jean-Haffen’s artistic career was diverse: she exhibited at major Parisian salons, contributed to the decoration of ocean liners, and produced ceramics in collaboration with the Henriot faience factory in Quimper. She was also active as a printmaker, working in woodcut, linocut, copper engraving, and lithography. Her illustrations appeared in books and magazines, and she contributed to large decorative projects, including murals and public commissions.