More Illustrated Savoir Faire

We are all familiar with the work of one of the most prolific graphic illustrators of the late twentieth century; however how many of us actually know the name behind some of the most iconic movie posters ever created?

The same artist was also responsible for a mountainous volume of advertising copy for various companies which embodied all the savoir faire of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. In my humble opinion he could almost be the American equivalent of Rene Gruau.

The artist in question is Bob Peak, who has often been called the ‘father of the modern movie poster’. Singlehandedly he transformed the then traditional approach of movie advertising from basic collages of film stills or head shots to flamboyant artistic illustrations. His work included also included over 45 covers of Time with the most famous being his portrayal of Mother Teresa.



From advertising copy for companies such as Pepsi and Winston cigarettes to fashion illustration the Peak style is instantly recognizable. The subjects possessing all the savoir faire in the world as they use the featured product or wearing the featured clothes. Editorial illustrations were done for such magazines as Cosmopolitan and McCall’s.

TWA airlines commissioned posters, menus and magazine covers such as the ones below.

His movie poster career virtually took off when United Artists hired him to help promote west Side Story and the rest is history. The poster is a classic and recognized all over the world. Peak went on to create some of the most famous posters of the era including My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Hair, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Apocalypse Now and countless others, with his final movie poster being for James Bond’s The Spy who Loved Me, which I copied in High School.

The illustrations themselves are glamorous; they also convey an idealized world which the rest of us aspired to. Some of the most famous names whether they are movie stars, politicians or just the man in the street have had the Peak treatment.

One of his greatest commissions was from US Post for 30 stamps commemorating the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles

They don’t draw them like this any more!

Savoir Faire and the Art of Tea

As I mentioned in my last post before heading off to Montreal for the weekend, Montreal is a city of enormous savoir faire and always surprises me. A lot of French companies set up business there as their entrance into the North American market or just to serve the French speaking population.

One such company is Kusmi Tea. Walking along the Rue Saint Denis one afternoon I was drawn to a window display of fabulous coloured containers and upon closer inspection found that this was the Montreal headquarters of Kusmi Teas.

Founded in 1867 in St. Petersburg by Pavel Michailovitch Kousmichoff as a series of teahouses all over Russia. Kusmi then was then to become most famous for providing tea to the Russian royal court. Opening branches in London and Paris after the revolution and then between the wars opening offices in New York, Hamburg and Constantinople the business expanded.

The boutique is incredibly modern and decorated purely in white with splashes of red, which sets off the coloured labels of the Tea Tins and packaging perfectly.


The packaging itself is wonderful with the distinctive label in a variety of different colours shapes and sizes. We all know how much I adore packaging of anything and this does not disappoint. The label is distinctive blending traditional Russian backgrounds with up to date modern colours. One cannot help but notice it.

Over the years, fabrication of the exclusive blends has not changed: the meticulous selection of teas (from India, China and Ceylon), the confection of balanced and aromatic blends with the best natural essences from Grasse, Calabria and Madagascar. The Russian blends – made from a base of bergamot and citrus – created by the founder continue to be available and their recipes kept secret.

Needless to say I came away with the Russian sampler, a selection of 6 the Russian blends in the cutest little tins.

Savoir Faire in Montreal

Savoir Faire is off to Montreal for the weekend for some much needed R & R. I am looking forward to it immensely for a number of reasons; one of them being that Montreal has a certain savoir faire that sets it apart from other Canadian cities.

Back in 1967 Montreal being the host of Expo 67 had all the savoir faire in the world. Originally awarded to the Soviet Union to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, they pulled out for reasons unknown. After much political backbiting within Canada, Montreal was the given the right to showcase the world’s best. This was also Canada’s main celebration during its centennial year.

Expo 67’s theme was “Man and his World” based on the 1939 book entitled Terre des Hommes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Expo featured 90 pavilions representing Man and His World themes, from nations, corporations, and industries including the U.S. pavilion, a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. Expo 67 also featured the Habitat 67 housing complex designed by architect Moshe Safdie, which is still occupied.

Australia was duly represented with a pavilion set on steel and concrete pillars, and sloping walls of glass and aluminum to aid natural lighting.

Although not the most architecturally significant on the exterior at Expo it was a tour de force on the inside.

Visitors viewed large colour transparencies showing life in Australia mounted in a futuristic sculptural display as they proceeded by spiral ramp to view the exhibits.

In the main exhibit hall incredibly sculptural large curved wooden beams rose through the floor to the ceiling following the lines of the innovative air conditioning ducts which were funnels set into the ceiling. The whole are had off-white shag pile carpeting which swept from the floor up the walls, between the beams and to the ceiling.

This was Australia’s coming of age in the pop decade of the1960’s in design and style with the whole concept affectionately being nicknamed “Pop Goes Australia”

Specially designed seating with built in headphones told the story of Australia. Black Chairs for English and orange for French.

One could be forgiven for thinking that you were in some swish airport terminal such as Saarinen’s TWA terminal at JFK, however on a warmer scale with the wood and the carpeting.

21 hostesses under the supervision of a former Miss Australia met visitors to the Australian pavilion. Their uniforms consisted of fashionably short A-line sleeveless skimmers of Australian wool gabardine, with matching hip-length double-breasted jackets. Most of these young hostesses came from rural areas and had never been out of Australia so this was the trip of a lifetime, with their heads full of pride and glamour.

Of course with most of Expo’s buildings this was dismantled, however when visiting this weekend I am going to be thinking of when the world came to Montreal for some savoir faire and some young Australians represented their county with pride and savoir faire!

Peynet Savoir Faire

With the introduction of her new perfume “Success Fou” in 1953 Elsa Schiaparelli departed from the use of her usual illustrator Marcel Vertes to use instead Raymond Peynet. This was a risky move as the illustrations of Vertes and Schiaparelli perfumes were synomonous with each other, so to use a new artist could have been marketing suicide.


An Artist and a poet Peynet was born in 1908 and during the war in 1942 while stationed in the south of France he began drawing a set of characters that would bring him fame. A little violinist with long hair playing alone in front of the bandstand of Valence and a girl listening to him and so were born the lovers of Peynet who were to become “le amoureax de Peynet”


Peynet had practically become the latest sensation of Paris and thus the only and perfect choice to illustrate the advertisements for Schiaparelli’s new perfume ‘Success Fou’ literally translated as raging success.

They were simply drawn and usually accompanied by small birds and other animals. They symbolized the fresh start that France was undertaking at the end of World War II. However underneath the sweetness and the innocence there were small subtle undertones of erotica. The little poet with a bowler hat was always immaculately dressed accompanied by his lady friend sometimes showing the hint of a stocking, panties or bosom.

Surrealism also abounded such as in the illustration below, with the couple exchanging hearts.

The lovers grew in popularity and appeared everywhere, featuring regularly in newspapers, in magazines such as Elle and Paris Match and on posters advertising Air France, Galeries Lafayette, Nicolas Wines and various film studios, as well as on record covers, postcards, wine and champagne labels, silk scarves, postage stamps and jewellery. The prestigious German porcelain manufacturers Rosenthal worked with Peynet and created a series of his designs on porcelain and glass.

Also a poet several books were produced with poems accompanied by his drawings. Considered "too sweet” for the American market, he never really gained success in the world except for Europe and Japan.

Over the past few years there has been a renewal of interest in the work of Peynet and it has become collectable world-wide. During his career the lovers become one of the icons of modern France, held in huge affection.

Monday Blue and White

Busy weekend here at Savoir Faire, with seeing me volunteering both Saturday and Sunday. However, that does not mean I do not have any time for savoir faire.

Here is a pairing that I think would look absolutely fabulous together. Now it is no secret that I like blue and white and porcelain. The traditional blue and white Chinese ginger style jar and vase are basics in decorating and I think goes well in most decorating schemes.

We have all seen the blue and white Chinese vases made into lamps and I think the below pair are just wonderful. All the proportions are right and the decoration while being somewhat minimal for the style is a nice subtle touch. The shade and dark base are in keeping with the aesthetic as all too often we see shades that really do not suit the base in proportion size and material.


So let’s, take the whole ginger jar, Chinese jar theme one step further, and blow up or paint oversize images of blue and white Chinese style porcelain on screens or room dividers. This creates a visual that is unexpected as we are used to seeing these items in smaller scale on table tops etc. This would work well with any collection of objects and creates a moveable piece of art. Enjoy!