Description

This highly decorative mid-century design poster shows a map with a route of the bicycle race, made in 1950 through the territory of Slovenia, Croatia and the Free Territory of Trieste. The race was attended by Yugoslavia, Trieste and eleven other West-European countries.

This bicycle race had an important political meaning in the time of the Tito-Stalin split after 1948. In that year Yugoslavia broke contacts with all Communist countries and was, as one of the consequences, expelled from the bicycle race of East European countries: the so called Peace Race. In the first race, organised in 1948, which was supposed to be an Eastern Block reply to Tour de France, winners were Yugoslavians.

Because they could not participate in the Peace Race in the following years, whey have organised their own similar international event, held on the territory of Slovenia, Croatia ant the coastal area of Trieste, which was a few years later divided between Italy and Yugoslavia. Sport events such as this bonded Yugoslavia, which a decade later became a member of Non-Aligned Movement, with western countries.

The artist Henrik Béranek was active as an illustrator of books, posters and children’s magazine Ciciban after WWII and around 1950. He is not to be confused with the artist Jože Béranek, the author of many right-wing propaganda posters, who was executed in 1945, after the end of WW II.