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poster auction

Swann Galleries’ poster auction achieves record prices

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
poster auction
Manuel Orazi, ‘La Maison Moderne,’ 1900. Sold for $37,500. Swann Galleries image

NEW YORK – Swann Galleries’ winter offering of Vintage Posters saw the highest recent sell-through rate of the house’s large biannual sale in the category. The Feb. 18 sale covered a variety of different collecting areas – Art Nouveau, ski, travel, food and beverage, and set records on a number of different posters across the genres offered. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

Art Nouveau led the sale with Manuel Orazi’s 1900 design (above) for La Maison Moderne, the preeminent art and home décore store of the day dedicated to Art Nouveau, at $37,500.

“Most impressive was that we sold 92% of the ski posters offered, which is far and away a company record,” noted Nicholas D. Lowry, specialist for the sale and president of Swann.

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Emil Cardinaux, ‘Zermatt / Matterhorn Schweiz,’ 1908. Sold for $13,750. Swann Galleries image

Master of the movement Alphonse Mucha was present with Tragique Histoire d’Hamlet / Sarah Bernhardt, 1899 ($17,500); and Zodiac / P. Ploton & D. Chave, 1898 ($10,625). Also of note was L’Estampe Moderne, a complete set of 100 plates in 24 fasicles, 1897–99 ($17,500).

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Alphonse Mucha, ‘Zodiac / P. Ploton & D. Chave,’ 1898. Sold for $10,625. Swann Galleries image

An artist record was set for H.A. Volodimer with Grand Prix d’Endurance de 24 Heures / Coupe Rudge – Whotworth (below), 1923, at $15,000; and Roger de Valerio’s Air France / Dans Tous Les Ciels, 1935, brought the highest price paid for the work at auction with $5,000. Additional poster records included Henry le Monnier’s Source Verdier, 1931, at $4,000; and a 1930s advertisement for travel to Zion National Park in Utah via the Union Pacific Railroad, at $3,000.

poster auction
H.A. Volodimer, ‘Grand Prix d’Endurance de 24 Heures / Coupe Rudge –Whitworth,’1923. Sold for $15,000. Swann Galleries image

The successful ski and winter poster selection included two poster records for Peter Ewart’s Canadian Rockies via Canadian Pacific, circa 1950, at $4,250, and Sascha Maurer’s Ski at Lake Placid, 1938, at $4,750. Also of note was Augustus Moser’s 1936 advertisement for skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho via the Union Pacific railway ($8,125), as well as Emil Cardinaux’s Zermatt / Matterhorn Schweiz, 1908 ($13,750), and Palace Hotel / St. Moritz, 1920 ($9,375).

poster auction
Augustus Moser, ‘Sun Valley Idaho / Union Pacific,’ circa 1936. Sold for $8,125. Swann Galleries image

For details contact Swann Galleries president and specialist Nicholas D. Lowry at posters@swanngalleries.com or 212-254-4710 x 53.

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View top auction results on LiveAuctioneers here: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/

 

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