FOR A MOM WHO GARDENS
L'Oiseau et le Bouquet, Apollinaire
A bird taking flight above a bouquet, both drawn with words. For the woman whose hands are in the soil by March.
30x40 · 40x50 · 50x70 cm
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Gift guide · Mother's Day
Mother's Day which poster to give Mom
Flowers fade within a week. Six French poems to give instead, or alongside, chosen according to the mother who will receive them.
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Heure d'été edition
Le Bouquet, the only one that never fades
A vase and its bouquet, traced in ink in Guillaume Apollinaire's own hand: every stem, every flower and the curve of the vase are lines of writing. Black on cream, on thick matte eco-friendly paper.
- 30x40 cm12x16 in
- 40x50 cm16x20 in
- 50x70 cm20x28 in
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
Why give a poster rather than flowers for Mother's Day?
A bouquet is still the first instinct, and a lovely gesture, but it lasts a week. A poster extends that gesture for years: it stays on the wall of her bedroom, her entryway or her kitchen, and recalls every day the care that went into it.
A poem adds what a bouquet cannot say. By choosing a text for her, you show that you know her tastes, her books, her memories. And they are often words you would not dare say yourself, which Baudelaire or Apollinaire say for you.
May 9
Mother's Day 2027 in the US
the second Sunday of May
the second Sunday of May
So this guide starts from the mother, not the object: the one who loves flowers, the reader, the gardener, the elegant one, the mother-in-law, and the gift from a daughter to her mother.
Which poster should you give a mom who loves flowers?
Le Bouquet, by Guillaume Apollinaire. It is a calligram: a poem whose words draw their subject, here a vase full of flowers. You first look at it as an ink drawing, then you come closer, and the bouquet begins to speak. The poem stayed outside the 1918 collection Calligrammes, and its words ask that we “laisse s'ouvrir la fleur” (let the flower open).
For a mom who always has flowers on the table, it is the gift that makes her smile: a bouquet she will never have to change. The black line on a cream ground suits every interior, from the most classic to the most pared-back. To understand the form before giving it, read our guide Calligram: definition and examples by Apollinaire.
… ma mère, voyant que j'avais froid, me proposa de me faire prendre, contre mon habitude, un peu de thé.Marcel Proust · Du côté de chez Swann · 1913
… my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered to have some tea made for me, which I did not usually take.
Which poster should you give a mom who reads?
The madeleine passage, from Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. One winter day, the narrator comes home chilled; his mother has tea brought to him and “un de ces gâteaux courts et dodus appelés Petites Madeleines” (one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines). At the first mouthful, his whole childhood at Combray rises up, with the madeleine his aunt Léonie used to dip in her lime-blossom tea. The most famous memory in French literature begins with a mother's gesture.
The poster reproduces the text of the passage, set like the page of a novel. For a mother who has read Proust, or who has always promised herself she would, it is a reader's gift. To find the text before giving it, read Proust's madeleine, the text of the passage.
Which poem should a daughter give her mother?
L'Invitation au voyage, by Charles Baudelaire. The poem opens on “Mon enfant, ma sœur” (My child, my sister): tender, ageless words that suit a mother as well as a daughter, and invite a journey together toward a country where all is gentle. Its refrain is one of the most beautiful in the language: “Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté, / Luxe, calme et volupté.” There, all is order and beauty, luxury, calm and delight.
The whole text is set like a page of Les Fleurs du mal, with its short stanzas and its refrain repeated three times. It is a poster for a bedroom or an entryway, saying what a card would say less well. The poem can be read in full in L'Invitation au voyage, the full text.
And for a mom who gardens, an elegant mom, or a mother-in-law?
Three more ideas, for three characters. All come in 30x40, 40x50 and 50x70 cm (12x16, 16x20 and 20x28 in).
FOR AN ELEGANT MOM
Hymne à la beauté, Baudelaire
Baudelaire wonders whether beauty comes from heaven or from the abyss, and concludes: no matter, if it makes “l'univers moins hideux et les instants moins lourds” (the universe less hideous and the moments less heavy). For the woman who has always known how to dress.
30x40 · 40x50 · 50x70 cm
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FOR A MOTHER-IN-LAW
À Madame la Comtesse, Apollinaire
“Je donne de tout cœur ce flacon d'eau-de-vie” (With all my heart I give this flask of brandy): a dedication Apollinaire wrote in Nice in November 1914, whose letters draw the scene. For a mother-in-law with a sense of humor.
30x40 · 40x50 · 50x70 cm
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Which size should you choose for Mother's Day?
The right size depends on the room where she will hang it. Prices appear in your currency on each print's page.
30x40
The bedroom or the kitchen, 12x16 in
The size for a narrow wall, a shelf or a nightstand. It slips into an off-the-shelf frame and goes beautifully with a bouquet.
40x50
The entryway or hallway, 16x20 in
The most versatile size: present enough to dress a wall, discreet enough not to upset her decor.
50x70
The living room, 20x28 in, the gift from all the children
Above a sofa or a dresser, the poem reads from across the room. It is the size for a shared gift, when brothers and sisters go in on it together.
5 days
When should you order?
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days. Ordering the week before the holiday leaves time to choose a frame.
Where should you hang Le Bouquet?
Wherever you would put flowers: above a console table, in an entryway, near the kitchen or dining table. At 50x70 cm (20x28 in), the vase takes on the size of a real bouquet, and the writing reveals itself as you come closer.
Black and cream ask nothing of the decor. A light wood frame warms it, a gilded frame gives it the air of an old French salon.
Heure d'été edition
Food for eyes & soul.
See more creationsFrequently asked questions
Which poster should I give Mom for Mother's Day?
A poem tied to what she loves: Apollinaire's Le Bouquet for a mom who loves flowers, Proust's madeleine passage for a reader, Baudelaire's L'Invitation au voyage for a gift from a daughter to her mother.
Which poster should I give my mother-in-law?
A light, elegant text that does not require knowing her private tastes: an Apollinaire calligram such as À Madame la Comtesse, or Baudelaire's Hymne à la beauté for an elegant mother-in-law.
When is Mother's Day?
In the United States, on the second Sunday of May: May 9 in 2027. In France, it falls on the last Sunday of May, May 30 in 2027.
Should I frame the poster before giving it?
It is not required. The poster is sold on its own, in standard sizes that fit off-the-shelf frames: a light wood or gilded frame lets her hang it the same day.
How do I choose if I don't know her decor well?
Start from her rather than her walls: a poem she loves, a book she has read. A black text on cream paper goes with almost every interior.
This year's bouquet will have faded by June. Give her the one she will keep.
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