{ Affichomanie } { Vintage Bicycle Posters }

038

Anonymous

Helios

Lithograph in colors, condition B+ backed on linen.

44 x 30in (112 x 76cm).

Susan B. Anthony famously stated that bicycling has "done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." While bicycling was initially an activity reserved for men only, women were accepted on bicycles increasingly and the nineteenth century came to an end. As professor Julie Husband noted: "In the 1890's, the bicycle was not just a toy or a sport; it was a means through which changing concepts of freedom and femininity were realized." This poster suggests women's liberation via bicycles as the female rider breaks through the picture plane. She is effectively freed from the confines of the paper; much like the bicycle itself freed women from the confines of the home. Helios is the ancient Greek Titan/God of the sun, who rode his sun chariot across the horizons daily. Helios had many daughters who protected his sacred "red cattle of the sun". While Helios himself had the chariot, perhaps he would have a fleet of bikes for his daughters.