Irrévocablement. Ouverture 15 avril. Marseille. Exposition coloniale (1906)

Irrévocablement. Ouverture 15 avril. Marseille. Exposition coloniale (1906)

Colour poster for the 1906 Marseille colonial exhibition: a robed West African man, a white-turbaned North African, a smaller Asian face and a Khmer-style dancer in gilt costume stand around a notice listing palaces, panoramas, 'exotic reconstructions' and 'native festivals', with tropical fruit and a cockatoo at their feet. The tell: the empire is offered as a list of pavilions, produce and spectacle, with the colonised peoples posed as costumed hosts.

Date
1906
Period
Pre-1914
Made by
Exposition nationale coloniale de Marseille, 1906 (organising committee, French Third Republic); artists Joseph de la Nézière and Joseph Pinchon; printed by Imprimerie Marseillaise
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
France
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
Mixed
Regime
Sarrien Government
Leader
Ferdinand Sarrien
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Themes
Empire and colonialism, Economy and finance
Event
Marseille Colonial Exhibition 1906
Techniques
Card stacking
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
Wikimedia Commons (reproducing Archives nationales d'outre-mer, FR ANOM 0009Fi490), retrieved September 29, 2026
Rights
Public domain (published 1906, before 1931; Commons PD, CC Public Domain Mark)
Joseph de la Nézière and Joseph Pinchon, Marseille, 1906; Archives nationales d'outre-mer (ANOM 0009Fi490), via Wikimedia Commons.

Text on the object

Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked

IRRÉVOCABLEMENT
OUVERTURE 15 AVRIL
MARSEILLE
EXPOSITION COLONIALE
15 AVRIL-NOVEMBRE
1906

GRAND PALAIS DE L'EXPORTATION
50 Palais & Pavillons Officiels des Colonies Françaises
SECTION INTERNATIONALE D'OCÉANOGRAPHIE ET PÊCHES MARITIMES
CONGRÈS BEAUX-ARTS COLONIAUX
Exposition d'Art Provençal
PANORAMAS
ATTRACTIONS & RECONSTITUTIONS EXOTIQUES
Rues de Saïgon & d'Hanoï [?]  Marché de Tombouctou
Théâtre Indo-Chinois  Fermes Algériennes
Musique Malgache  Souks Tunisiens
GRANDES FÊTES INDIGÈNES

J. de la Nézière  J. Pinchon
IMP. MARSEILLAISE  MARSEILLE

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

IRREVOCABLY
OPENING 15 APRIL
MARSEILLE
COLONIAL EXHIBITION
15 APRIL-NOVEMBER
1906

GREAT EXPORT PALACE
50 official palaces and pavilions of the French colonies
INTERNATIONAL SECTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY AND SEA FISHERIES
COLONIAL FINE ARTS CONGRESS
Provencal art exhibition
PANORAMAS
EXOTIC ATTRACTIONS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS
Streets of Saigon and Hanoi  Timbuktu market
Indo-Chinese theatre  Algerian farms
Malagasy music  Tunisian souks
GREAT NATIVE FESTIVALS

J. de la Nézière  J. Pinchon
Marseille Printing House, Marseille

The small red list of attractions is soft at 960 px; the first item ('Rues de Saïgon & d'Hanoï') is read with medium confidence. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.