#affiches

Motobécane. ca. 1929. Geo Ham.

46 ¾ x 31 in./118.7 x 78.7 cm

Geo Ham had a need: a need for speed. Known as the “prince of motion,” he is famous today as the illustrator of Monaco Grand Prix posters from 1933 to 1936, as well as motorboat competitions, air meets and aerobatic competitions between the wars. He produced exactly two posters for Motobécane: this one, presumably the earlier of the two: despite the lady’s scarf waving in the breeze, there isn’t quite as much of a kinetic frisson as Ham’s more mature works. The other Ham Motobécane is directly adjacent.

Available at auction June 26. Learn more >>

Ford. 1933. Anonymous.

30 5/8 x 45 ¾ in./77.8 x 116.2 cm

“Ford introduced the V-8 engine in 1932, and this poster for the following year’s model showcases its promotional message ("Ford lets fly this arrow to show the road of progress”) with a striking Art Deco take on classicism. Ford was the first company to cast a V-8 engine block in one piece. It was many years before the company’s competitors learned how to mass-produce a reliable V-8; in the interim, the car and its powerful engine became the preferred choice of performance-minded motorists worldwide" (Crouse/Deco, p. 46).

Available at auction June 26. Learn more >>

Le Frou-Frou. 1900. Weiluc.

44 ¾ x 94 in./113.7 x 238.7 cm

One of the greatest, most alluring posters in the world: those sly cat eyes, those sumptuous cushions, that seductive plume of cigarette smoke, and most breathtaking: the white negative space of the petticoats, on which to dream. Le Frou-Frou was a light-hearted, satirical publication that ran from 1900 to the beginning of World War I; its pages contained pictures of can-can dancers, cartoons, humorous anecdotes of Parisian life, and more risqué elements like some of the first advertisements for condoms. This is the rare, large format version: complete with bottom text banner.

Available at auction June 26. Learn More>>

Lot 191. Anemici, by Anonymous, 1909.

49 ½ x 64 ½ in./125.7 x 163.8 cm

That scarlet blush of health you see on the lady’s cheeks and gown, and the strength of the dog she carries with her – all to promote iron pills to combat anemia, with a 15-day regimen. Available at all the best pharmacies.

Available at auction June 26. Learn More>>

American Crescent Cycles. 1899. Frederick Winthrop Ramsdell.

42 ¾ x 62 7/8 in./108.6 x 159.8 cm

Ramsdell studied at the Art Students League of New York, then left for Paris, where his work was shown at the Paris Salon between 1891 and 1898. This was the sweet spot for the French advertising poster, of course, and especially the work of Eugene Grasset, whose style Ramsdell appropriates in spectacular style.

Available at auction June 26.
Learn more about our selection of rare bicycle posters >>

Josephine & Jazz : Maquette. ca. 1930. Paul Colin.

8 3/8 x 11 in./21.3 x 28 cm

Oh yeah. That’s Josephine Baker dancing on top of a piano while the musicians cluster below, and the Eiffel Tower itself swings in syncopation. Classic Paul Colin, it’s also got a little bit of Chagall in it, n'est ce pas? An absolute treasure of the Jazz Age.

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

Velké Karlovice. 1946. Ladislav Horak.

23 3/8 x 33 ¼ in./59.2 x 84.5 cm

Hardy, rustic and rogue, this determined skier brings color, strength and fortitude to the placid hamlet of Velké Karlovice, a town in the middle of the Czech Republic’s prime winter sports areas.

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

Dunkerque. 1929. Roger Broders.

24 ¾ x 39 1/8 in./62.7 x 99.2 cm

The rarest of all Broders posters, it’s also the only image Broders created for the Chemin de Fer du Nord – though the railroad is nowhere to be seen. Instead, he gives us the view from an elegant couple’s yacht, pulling out of the harbor. The contrast between the modern (both people and ships) and the medieval (the spire of the Old Town Hall, the little skiff at right) makes Dunkirk all the more interesting and mysterious.

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

Dubonnet. 1933. A. M. Cassandre.

Each: 11 5/8 x 15 in./29.5 x 38 cm

Cassandre’s most popular and enduring advertising idea was for Dubonnet, an odd aperitif created with fortified wine, herbs, spices and quinine. It’s basically the French version of the gin-&-tonic: a drink invented so French Foreign Legionnaires in North Africa could get the quinine down. For a commercial market, however, the libation was a little more dubious. Cassandre ran with it: “Dubo,” (a casual French word for ‘doubt’); “Dubon” (‘good’)… Dubonnet. “Whether Cassandre was thinking of comic strips or motion pictures is impossible to say,“ but "among French posters of the twentieth century none is better known. It was kept in circulation for more than two decades” (Brown & Reinhold, p. 17). This is in a version not previously seen: 3 sheets, smaller format, and with the originally intended blue center panel. 

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

Fêtes D'Aviation. 1911. Goth.

47 ¼ x 63 in./120 x 160 cm

Practically the mirror image of Le Petit Parisien’s poster for the Paris-Madrid race, we are here offered the skyline of the small town of Le Puy. The text below advertises a rivalry between Jules Vedrines (who would become the first pilot to break 100 mph the following year) and the Peruvian Juan Bielovucic Cavalié (the second aviator to make it across the Alps).

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

The Seasons. 1896. Alphonse Mucha.

Each: 21 1/8 x 40 ¾ in./53.6 x 103.5 cm

This larger format is rare; rarer still is a large version of the 1896 Seasons with such exceedingly fresh colors! You can feel the chill of Winter, the little birds huddling for warmth; the dewy wakefulness of Spring, fashioning herself a lyre, on which those little birds are expectantly perched; Summer is indolent, sleepy in the heat; but Autumn, Autumn, lush and fecund with her auburn hair, indulges the harvest by plucking the grapes from the vine, straight into her cup. It’s not only the passage of time that makes this series rare: these images were difficult to find even at the time of their publication. The editor of The Poster couldn’t help a reader locate this set back in 1899, concluding: “they are getting scarce” (January 1899, p. 42). This is the larger variant with the Seasons text at bottom.

Available at auction February 25, 2018.

Théophile Roederer & Co./Champagne. 1897. Louis-Theophile Hingre.

24 ¾ x 50 5/8 in./63 x 128.5 cm

For one of the most beloved Champagne houses in France, Hingre fuses the motifs of Mucha with the poses of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, and produces a work that perfectly balances lightness, strength, structure and opulence. It’s a rather fine translation of the Champagne itself into visual form. Hingre wasn’t just a graphic artist; he also worked in metal sculpture, and the sculpted guard across the woman’s midriff is a small signature to that effect.

Vintage posters at auction February 25, 2018: view all 500 lots.

La Dolce Vita. 1959. Giorgio Olivetti.

55 x 77 ½ in./139.5 x 196.7 cm

One of the greatest films – and one of the greatest film posters – of all time, Olivetti’s gorgeous and rhapsodic two-sheet extravaganza features Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni looking gorgeous. This Olivetti poster was printed in 1959, for the original Cannes Film Festival release, and as such is quite rare!

Available at auction February 25, 2018.