Back in 1980, the French Tennis Federation and the French Open Tournament Committee partnered with Galerie Lelong & Co. to begin a series of annual poster designs. For every edition of the tournament, an artist submits a specially-created piece that reflects the history, colors, and characteristic shapes of this major event.
The iconic red clay at Roland-Garros has served as the background for legendary moments in the court, and inspiration for many of the event posters over 40 years.
A total of 42 posters retell the history of the Parisian Grand Slam.
1980 – 1989
1980: Valerio Adami
1981: Eduardo Arroyo
1982: Jean-Michel Folon
1983: Vladimir Velicković
1984: Gilles Aillaud
1985: Jacques Monory
1986: Jiri Kolar
1987: Gérard Titus-Carmel
1988: Pierre Alechinsky
1989: Nicola De Maria
1990 – 1999
1990: Claude Garache
1991: Joan Miro
1992: Jan Voss
1993: Jean Le Gac
1994: Ernest Pignon
1995: Donald Lipski
1996: Jean-Michel Meurice
1997: Antonio Saura
1998: Hervé Télémaque
1999: Antonio Segui
2000 – 2009
2000: Antoni Tapies
2001: Sean Scully
2002: Arman
2003: Jane Hammond
2004: Daniel Humair
2005: Jaume Plensa
2006: Günther Förg
2007: Kate Sheperd
2008: Arnulf Rainer
2009: Konrad Klapheck
2010 – 2019
2010: Nalini Malani
2011: Barthélémy Toguo
2012: Hervé Di Rosa
2013: David Nash
2014: Juan Uslé
2015: Du Zhenjun
2016: Marc Desgrandchamps
2017: Vik Muniz
2018: Fabienne Verdier
2019: Jose Maria Sicilia
2020 –
2020: Pierre Seinturier
2021: Jean Claracq
The artists show us how tennis itself can be an art — the players are artists, the court is canvas, the racquet is a paintbrush, and the ball is paint.
Nonchalantly Yours,
Nikola
