I've been reading through a few books on Rebour and a fine collection of his illustrations and I'm stunned! In an age when colour print was generally reserved for the front cover of magazines and perhaps a single plate inside, illustrators ruled, especially in advertising. The personal life of the man seems quite the mystery though.
Rebour certainly knew a lot about professional cycling, and must have attended all the major bike shows (Paris, London, Lyon, Berlin etc), and obviously the Tour and was clearly very knowledgeable about his subject. He also did cartoons, and generated logos and campaigns for major companies like Simplex, Stronglight and Ideale (they even named a saddle after him!) I really like his 'exploded' view illustrations.
His eye for detail is almost photographic. Apparently when he went to the big shows, be would take no photos, only rudimentary sketches of parts and then work them up at home. His major client was Le Cycle magazine, which ran his illustrations for some 35 years. A friend of Anquetil and Merckx, he certainly got about a bit! It couldn't have been a bad life! He even managed to fit in a Flying Scot drawing of their in-house headset/grease port design.
Rebour is without a doubt the king of cycling illustration. Here are a few of my favourites, What's yours?
Rebour certainly knew a lot about professional cycling, and must have attended all the major bike shows (Paris, London, Lyon, Berlin etc), and obviously the Tour and was clearly very knowledgeable about his subject. He also did cartoons, and generated logos and campaigns for major companies like Simplex, Stronglight and Ideale (they even named a saddle after him!) I really like his 'exploded' view illustrations.
His eye for detail is almost photographic. Apparently when he went to the big shows, be would take no photos, only rudimentary sketches of parts and then work them up at home. His major client was Le Cycle magazine, which ran his illustrations for some 35 years. A friend of Anquetil and Merckx, he certainly got about a bit! It couldn't have been a bad life! He even managed to fit in a Flying Scot drawing of their in-house headset/grease port design.
Rebour is without a doubt the king of cycling illustration. Here are a few of my favourites, What's yours?
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Cycle camping with the new girlfriend!
