NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries' annual February auction of Vintage Posters—held this year on Tuesday, February 25—offers a diverse selection of images, from exquisite Art Nouveau designs by Alphonse Mucha to avant-garde artist exhibition posters.

In this Olympic year, there are more than 35 posters promoting skiing and winter resort activities, including Witold Gordon’s design for III Olympic Winter Games / Lake Placid, 1932 (estimate: $3,000 to $4,000), and other American highlights such as Sascha Maurer’s Let’s Go Skiing!, 1936 ($2,000 to $3,000), the iconic This Winter / Sun Valley ($1,500 to $2,000) and a run of Dartmouth Winter Carnival posters including one by Dwight Clark Shepler, featuring a figure skater.

European ski posters of note include Candido Aragonese de Faria’s Sports d’Hiver a Chamonix / Cachat’s – Majestic, circa 1910 ($4,000 to $6,000); Erich Hermes’s Winter in Switzerland, 1936 ($2,000 to $3,000); Emil Cardinaux’s Jungfrau Bahn, 1925 ($3,000 to $4,000); Roger Broders’s Funiculaire / Chamonix – Planpraz, circa 1930 ($3,000 to $4,000); and Leonetto Cappiello’s Superbagners – Luchon / Sports d’Hiver, 1929 ($4,000 to $6,000).

There are nearly 100 lots of rare and important Art Nouveau posters, with examples by some of the best known artists of the fin-de-siècle era. A wonderful selection of decorative panels by Alphonse Mucha includes the quartets The Seasons, 1896 ($20,000 to $30,000) and Times of the Day, 1899 ($50,000 to $75,000); as well as two of his celebrated posters for Job rolling papers.

Toulouse-Lautrec highlights are Divan Japonais, depicting both Jane Avril and Yvette Guilbert, two of his muses, 1893 ($40,000 to $60,000) and May Milton, which he created for the English dancer who was the lover of his friend May Belfort, 1895 ($10,000 to $15,000).

Similar in style are Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s first significant poster, for Mothu et Doria, a pair of singers performing as a shabby drifter and an aristocrat, 1893 ($8,000 to $12,000); and Cocorico, circa 1899, using a crowing rooster to promote a magazine ($4,000 to $6,000).

There are also Art Nouveau designs by F. Hugo d’Alesi, Pierre Bonnard, Jules Cheret, Georges de Feure, Jules-Alexandre Grun, PAL and SEM.

A choice selection of early aviation posters includes Rene Hermann-Paul’s Aerodrome de Cannes, 1909, offering flying lessons and excursions ($5,000 to $7,500); I. Fries’s International Aviation Tournament / Belmont Park, 1910, one of the earliest flying competitions in the U.S. ($4,000 to $6,000) and Ernest Louis Lessieux and H. Carrey’s 1er Grand Prix d’Aviation / Angers, 1912, a competition held by the Aero Club of France ($5,000 to $7,500).

An assortment of Judaic posters also features an aviation image, Gavrieli’s Aviation Week / The Nation Needs Pilots and Planes, circa 1945 ($1,200 to $1,800). Other Judaic highlights include Franz Krausz’s WWII poster, For Rescue and Immigration, 1943 ($2,000 to $3,000) and Jean David’s avant-garde travel image, Visit Israel the Land of the Bible / 4th Maccabiah Games, 1953 ($1,500 to $2,000).

Among signed artist and exhibition posters are Marc Chagall’s iconic design for the Metropolitan Opera production of Carmen, 1966 ($3,000 to $4,000); Andy Warhol’s The American Indian Series / Ace Gallery, 1977 (1,000 to $1,500); and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Vrej Baghoomian, 1988 ($800 to $1,200).

The auction concludes with a run of Mather Work Incentive posters, known for their workplace safety and productivity slogans and kitschy artwork. Among these are Say It-and Smile / Make a Friend, 1924 ($2,500 to $3,500); Think “I” and You Work Alone / Help Others and They Help You, 1925 ($2,000 to $3,000); and He Sets the Pace / He Gets There First, 1927 ($1,500 to $2,000).

The auction will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 25.

The posters will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Thursday, February 20 and Friday, February 21, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, February 22, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.; Monday, February 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, February 25, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

An illustrated auction catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, Inc., 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, or online at www.swanngalleries.com.