Cream of Belle Epoque Paris Posters for Up To $20,000 Each at Swann Galleries’ Auction
NEW YORK, NY / AGILITYPR.NEWS / January 06, 2020 / Cream of Belle Epoque Paris posters for up to $20,000 each at Swann Galleries’ auction
Rare vintage posters by the masters of the genre in its fin de siècle Parisian heyday are set to take tens of thousands of dollars at auction at Swann Auction Galleries in New York.
Designed by the greatest names of poster art in 1890s Europe, works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha, the leading light of the Art Nouveau movement, are estimated at up to $20,000 each in the February 13 Vintage Posters auction.
With dozens of lots still to be unveiled, the highlights released so far include Job, an 1896 design by Mucha for cigarette rolling papers, carrying an estimate of $12,000 to $18,000. Another, also for Job from 1898, has an estimate of $6,000 to $9,000.
Three other designs by Mucha, each pitched at $10,000 to $15,000, show the artist at his most inspired by the developing Art Nouveau style. Two designed as decorative panels form a pair and are titled Têtes Byzantine. Dating to 1897, the facing profiles of women – one blonde, one brunette – were among the artist’s most popular designs at the time.
La Samaritaine, a promotional poster for the 1897 production of Edmond Rostand’s play starring Sarah Bernhardt, is also estimated at $10,000 to $15,000.
Elles, an 1896 lithograph by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, formed the frontispiece of a portfolio of erotic lithographs by the artist for the publisher Gustave Pellet. It is one of Lautrec’s most celebrated works and a copy can be found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The example in Swann Galleries’ auction is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000.
Other highlights from Belle Époque Paris include Folies Bergère /La Loïe Fuller by Pal, promoting the American dancer Loïe Fuller. Dating to 1897, the estimate is $1,000 to $1,500.
Adrien Barrère, another leading poster artist of the period, designed L’Idéal du Touriste, an extremely scarce 1903 view of a woman on a bicycle, whose graphic appeal is enhanced by strong block colouring. Only one other copy is ever known to have been seen at auction. Estimated at $3,000 to $4,000, it is just one of a number of posters promoting the highly popular pastime of cycling at the turn of the 20th century. Another Mucha poster, Cycles Perfecta of 1907, is estimated at $15,000 to $20,000.
Other outstanding designers of the period featured in the sale include Jules Chéret, whose Musée Grévin / Théâtre les Fantoches de John Hewlett from 1900 celebrates the famous puppet theatre. It is estimated at $1,500 to $2,000.
The Belgian painter and printmaker James Ensor also features strongly, with two designs for dog shows dating to 1895 and 1896, while Salon des Cent, promoting his work at the well-known commercial art exhibition in Paris, is estimated at $3,000 to $4,000.
With a wealth of travel and ski posters by other leading poster artists added to the mix, Swann Galleries anticipate strong bidding across the auction, with live bidding online available via their website at www.swanngalleries.com
All images courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries
Auction title: Vintage Posters
Auction date: Thursday, February 13, at 10:30 am (EST)
Preview dates: February 8, 12-5; February 10-12, 10-6
About Us
Swann Auction Galleries is a third-generation family business as well as the world’s largest auction house for works on paper. In the last 75 years, Swann has repeatedly revolutionized the trade with such innovations as the first U.S. auction dedicated to photographs and the world’s only department of African-American Fine Art. More than 30 auctions and previews are held annually in Swann Galleries’ two-floor exhibition space in Midtown Manhattan, and online worldwide. Visit swanngalleries.com for more information.
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