NEW YORK.- On Monday, May 7 Swann Galleries will conduct an auction of more than 225 Modernist Posters—it will be their largest sale of this material to date. Swann defines “Modernist Posters” as works that were cutting-edge at the time they were created, and the auction includes many Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Secession, Soviet Constructivist Propaganda, and Retro American images.
Featured American works include three of Lester Beall’s posters promoting the Rural Electrification Administration, a government program designed to bring modern amenities to rural parts of the U.S. They are Heat – Cold, 1937, A Better Home, 1941 ($20,000 to $30,000 each); and his brilliant photomontage image—considered one of the greatest American posters of the 20th century—of a smiling boy and girl leaning against a fence with an American flag as the background ($25,000 to $35,000). Other U.S. highlights are an image produced by the labor union CIO to raise money for the reelection of Franklin Roosevelt, 1 A in Our Draft, New York, circa 1943 (1,500 to $2,000); and two posters by Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, Aspen Winter Jazz, 1967 ($1,000 to $1,500), and Merton of the Movies, 1968 ($800 to $1,200).
There is a run of 20 posters by inimitable German designer Ludwig Hohlwein, including Damenconfectionshaus Mayer Sundheimer, Munich, 1909 (estimate $8,000 to $12,000); Chaussures Americaines, Zurich, circa 1910 ($6,000 to $9,000); Direct China Cotton Importers, Munich, circa 1910 ($3,000 to $4,000); Riquet-Tee, Leipzig ($4,000 to $6,000); the celebrated Zoologischer Garten Mnchen, 1912 ($7,000 to $10,000); and Tobler Chocolat / Toblerone, Munich, circa 1925 ($8,000 to $12,000).
Other featured German works are designer Lucian Bernhard’s aviation image Konkurrenz-Fliegen, 1909 ($3,000 to $4,000), and Der Neue Bosche Magnet, based on a maquette by Bernhard, circa 1911 ($4,000 to $6,000); Matthias’s poster for book publisher Verlag Der Bcherfreunde, 1920 ($2,000 to $3,000); Julius Ussy Engelhard’s Udet u. Greim Fliegen, for an “aerobatic” show, Munich, 1919 ($3,000 to $4,000); and Fritz Hellmut Ehmcke’s Pressa, for a publishing trade exposition, Cologne, 1928 ($1,500 to $2,000).
Several Austrian examples will be offered, among them a 1907 book with designs for the Kabarett Fledermaus by various Wiener Werksttte artists, 22 pages ($12,000 to $18,000); and a copy of the only comprehensive book on the Austrian poster’s golden age, stereische Plakat Kunst, Vienna, circa 1914 ($10,000 to $15,000).
A fascinating selection of Soviet Propaganda posters includes Valentina Kulagina’s My Gotovy Koborone [We Are Prepared for Defense], Moscow, 1930 ($7,000 to $10,000); Gustav Klutsis’s [1st of May / International Proletarian Solidarity Day], Moscow, 1930 ($6,000 to $9,000); the Stenberg Brothers’ [Karen, Ingmar’s Daughter], and [Through the Flames], 1927 ($4,000 to $6,000 and $5,000 to $7,500); Elena Semionova’s poster for the airline Aviaxim, 1926 ($4,000 to $6,000); Y. Gymuner’s 2+2=5, 1931 ($3,000 to $4,000); and GEBS’s Arbeiter Werkttige, for the German Communist party, Dusseldorf, circa 1930 ($2,000 to $3,000).
There are many fine examples by Art Deco master A.M. Cassandre, such as his night-time image for Dunkerque, Lille, 1932 ($7,000 to $10,000); Flche D’Argent, Paris, 1929 ($8,000 to $12,000); his iconic toile du Nord, Paris, 1927 ($12,000 to $18,000); and his design for chocolate bar Vinay, St. Lazare, 1930 ($6,000 to $9,000).
In the style of Cassandre is Kees Van Der Laan’s poster Londen, advertising travel between the continent and Britain, 1938 ($6,000 to $9,000). Other transportation highlights include Pierre Fix-Masseau’s Pullman train advertisement Cte D’Azur, Lille, 1929 ($7,000 to $10,000); D.P.’s bicycle image Monet Goyon, Paris, circa 1938 ($3,000 to $4,000); Bernard Lancy’s for Griffon motorcycles ($3,000 to $4,000); Gnome Rhone Motocyclette by an unknown artist, Paris, circa 1935 ($4,000 to $6,000); L. Keizer’s Sabena / Rapidite, circa 1935 ($2,000 to $3,000); and Albert Solon’s Lignes Farman / Paris, 1932 ($3,000 to $4,000).
Among many automotive posters are two designs for Fiat, one by Plinio Cogdonato, Turin, 1938 ($2,000 to $3,000), the other by S.M. Dil, Paris, 1932 ($3,000 to $4,000); Charles Loupot’s advertisement for car-fire extinguisher Stop-Fire, Paris, 1925 ($12,000 to $18,000); Paolo Federico Garretto’s Amilcar, Paris, 1929 ($4,000 to $6,000); and two images for Peugeot, J. Roberts Konlein’s, Paris, 1934 ($4,000 to $6,000); and Paul Colin’s, Paris, 1935 ($15,000 to $20,000).
Also by Colin are Tabarin, 1928 ($3,000 to $4,000); Andr Renaud, 1929 ($15,000 to $20,000); and International Film Festival of Cannes, 1946 ($7,000 to $10,000). Rounding out the works by celebrated French artists are Max Ponty’s rare photomontage for Radiola, 1928 ($7,000 to $10,000); and posters by Jean Carlu including Ppa Bonaf, Paris, 1928 ($1,500 to $2,000), Pour le Dsarmement des Nations, Paris, 1932 ($4,000 to $6,000), as well as his arresting 1947 advertisement for the New York Subway advertising campaign ($3,000 to $4,000).
Compelling Italian, Spanish and South American posters include Giovanni Mingozzi’s elegant design for haberdasher Barbisio, Turin, 1938 ($5,000 to $7,500); Federico Seneca’s image of a nun carrying a bowl of Buitoni Pastina, Milan, 1928 ($7,000 to $10,000); Francisco De A. Gali’s Exposicion Internacional / Barcelona, 1929 ($3,000 to $4,000); and a very rare Argentinean basketball poster by Caroselli, Campeonato Abierto de Basket-Ball / Asociacion Natio Buenos Aires, 1934 ($7,000 to $10,000).
There are several wonderful works by Edward McKnight Kauffer, including two maquettes for posters he designed for Shell Oil, one a gouache for Double Shell Lubricating Oil, 1936 ($3,000 to $4,000); the other gouache and photo-collage for Shell Lubricating Oil / Stays on the Job, 1939 ($4,000 to $6,000); and his poster From Winters Gloom to Summers Joy, London, 1927 ($3,000 to $4,000).
