Born in Bordeaux in 1882, and initially trained as an academic painter, from the 1920s onwards Jean Dupas worked as a creative painter-decorator, producing diverse works ranging from grand scale murals and panels, to posters and other commercial designs.
Despite his varied artistic interests, Dupas’ style remained distinct and immediately recognisable throughout his career, his work characterised by unique scenes set in dreamscape surroundings and figures always statuesque and elegant in appearance, with gracefully elongated necks and fashionably stylised looks.
Jean Dupas created two decorative poster panels for the London Underground in 1930; Thence to Hyde Park and Where is this Bower Beside the Silver Thames. Arguably some of his best graphic work, the panels promoted the charms of London life, and specifically the leisure destinations that the Underground brought into easy reach.
Jean Dupas is today considered among the greatest artists of the Art Deco movement.