Geo Ham - Where it all began for me!

Geo Ham was born in 1900 in the town of Laval, Mayenne in France - which coincidentally is just a short hop away from Le Mans one of motorsports meccas! So perhaps it should be unsurprising that he should be one of motoring arts most popular and recognised artists! The name 'Geo Ham' was adopted later in his career - his 'given' name was Georges Hamel and from a young age young Georges talent for drawing and painting was evident, his parents operated a general supplies shop in Laval and the blank postcards that they sold became the early canvasses for young Georges - his 1st motoring works on record are images of an early race through Laval on 12th May 1913, he produced a series of 6 postcards depicting the race (at age 13). Five of these postcards are catalogued in the Xavier Villebrun book - 'Geo Ham Painter of speed - Master of poster-art' and we're very proud to say number 6 is at The Mabileau Gallery here in Cheltenham, available for viewing, but NOT FOR SALE!

Georges talents were soon recognised by his teachers & mentors and before long he was enrolled in the Ecole des Artes Decoratifs in Paris, where his early promise was developed and nurtured and young Georges Hamel became Parisian 'Geo Ham'.

In the roaring twenties advertising rose to fore and in these pre-photography days, artists became in great demand to illustrate the big-budget advertisements that appeared in publications like L'Illustration and it was not long before Geo Ham was making a very good, regular income from advertisers - with his interest in motoring it is unsurprising that most of his focus was automobile clients, and due to his popularity, L'Illustration took him on the payroll as an in-house artist, whilst with this publication he undertook illustration for many covers and articles, many of which are instantly recognisable as his work over 100 years later.

The list of advertising clients reads like a who's who of French motoring through the 20's & 30's - Ranging from Bugatti to the short lived and forgotten 'Marathon motor company' - More of which will be the subject of future blogs here at The Mabileau.

The most recognisable of Geo Hams work are the event posters! It was one of these that piqued my interest in Motoring art - Monaco 1937 is still probably my favourite work of motoring art (And I've seen a few pieces over the years!). These iconic posters are even more collectable today than they ever were - but be aware, their popularity has led to many copies being produced! Most of the major motor sport events queued up for Geo Ham to produce their posters - Monaco, Le Mans, Pau & Reims are just a few and to this day we are still discovering posters that time forgot! (Event posters....damn that's another blog!).

Geo Ham was also in great demand to illustrate 'subject' books, perhaps the best well known being the Roger Labric book 24 Heures du Man, this is a weighty tome and is very much collectable.We have 2 copies in the gallery, a 'reading copy' and a 'Do Not Touch' copy! (Why 'Do Not Touch' - Because it is a personal bound copy belonging to Jean Collin and is signed and dedicated by Geo Ham & Roger Labric!). The Illustrations from this book were widely reproduced as posters in the 1960's, and to be fair these are decent reproductions - later reproductions are probably best left alone.

Geo Ham was undoubtably influenced by Montaut and Rene Vincent, but the confidence of his work and his minimal use of line gives his work an unmistakeable and characteristic style. It is no surprise that his work has an eduring appeal and he is a firm favourite here at The Mabileau - continue to follow our blogs as we will be returning to Geo Ham regularly.