Original signed in plate lithographic poster, featuring the image of Brigitte Bardot. Printed by Mourlot, Paris.

This poster was produced for the 1964 Salon des Peintres Témoins de Leur Temps, a Paris exhibition series highlighting artists as chroniclers/witnesses of contemporary life. Van Dongen’s image presents Brigitte Bardot with his characteristic bold outlines and vibrant planes of colour and he transforms her into a cultural emblem, linking high modernist portraiture with the energy and celebrity of mid‑20th‑century France.

Kees van Dongen (Dutch-born but based in Paris), was a leading Fauvist known for expressive colour, elongated forms, and portraits of modern women. His work translated seamlessly into lithography, retaining the painterly vitality and dynamism that made his figure studies so compelling.

Bardot had posed for van Dongen in the late 1950s, and here she is rendered not as a mere likeness but as a symbol of post‑war glamour and the fusion of art, cinema, and popular culture. The poster’s graphic clarity, paired with the artist’s expressive line, communicates both personality and social context, making it a striking example of how the Peintres Témoins series celebrated art as a reflection of its time.