The auction will begin with 30 Winter Sports posters from around the world. Emil Cardinaux’s 1920 Palace Hotel / St. Moritz is one of his most evocative designs (est. $8,000-$10,000), while Roger Broders’ Winter Sports in the French Alps presents the joy of a ski day (est. $5,000-$6,000). Further highlights include Leonetto Cappiello’s 1929 Superbagnères-Luchon (est. $5,000-$6,000), Ludwig Hohlwein’s 1936 Olympic Winter Games / Garmisch-Partenkirchen (est. $2,000-$2,500), and four images from Sascha Maurer, including his graphic Ski Lake Placid (est. $1,700-$2,000).
Next, 15 designs for the Mele department store and Italian culture will be offered. Important works include Cappiello’s 1903 Mele / Novità per Signora (est. $8,000-$10,000), Leopoldo Metlicovitz’s 1904 Mele & Ci. / Confezioni per Uomo (est. $4,000-$5,000), Adolfo Hohenstein’s 1898 Iris (est. $3,500-$4,000), and Leonardo Bistolfi’s 1902 Prima Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte (est. $8,000-$10,000).
For collectors of transit posters, options abound. Twenty designs for ships will be auctioned, including A. Schindeler’s epic 1891 design, Voyage Autour du Monde / Round the World (est. $17,000-$20,000) and Henri Cassiers’ circa 1899 Red Star Line / New York-Antwerp (est. $2,000-$2,500). Aviation buffs will delight in Charles Ramberts’ 1910 Grande Semaine d’Aviation (est. $6,000-$7,000), the anonymous 1912 Panama and the Canal from an Aeroplane (est. $6,000-$8,000), and Jupp Wiertz’s 1936 Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (est. $10,000-$12,000). A dozen posters for Air India and Indian travel will be up for bidding, including several whimsical images from Tomi Ungerer (each est. $1,000-$1,200).
In the bicycle section, notable works include the circa 1895 Cycles Gladiator (est. $25,000-$30,000), the circa 1884 design for Columbia Bicycles (est. $3,000-$4,000), and the especially rare circa 1925 Bayerische Motoren Works / BMW (est. $2,500-$3,000), all by anonymous designers. For fans of automobile posters, highlights include Geo Ham’s 1935 Monaco Grand Prix (est. $17,000-$20,000) and Caspary-Blu’s circa 1936 Grosser Bergpreis v. Deutschland / Freiburg (est. $5,000-$6,000).
A number of choice images from Swiss and German artists will come up for bidding. Highlights include Eduardo Garcia Benito’s 1929 Candee (est. $4,000-$5,000), Lucian Bernhard’s 1910 Manoli (est. $4,000-$5,000), Ludwig Hohlwein’s 1910 Yellowstone-Park (est. $6,000-$7,000) and his 1912 Zoologischer Garten München (est. $10,000-$12,000), Fritz Rumpf’s circa 1914 Söhnlein Rheingold (est. $2,500-$3,000), and Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters’ 1922 Kleine Dada Soirée (est. $6,000-$8,000).
From the father of modern advertising—Leonetto Cappiello—40 designs will be available. A number of these have never been seen at auction before, including the 1901 Musica e Musicisti (est. $14,000-$17,000), Evian-Cachat (est. $5,000-$6,000), Floravene Gravena (est. $6,000-$8,000), and his 1935 Jako (est. $4,000-$5,000). His most beloved works will also be up for grabs, including Maurin Quina from 1906 (est. $2,500-$3,000), the 1910 Lampe Osmine (est. $5,000-$6,000), and the six-sheet 1929 Parapluie-Revel (est. $4,000-$5,000).
From A. M. Cassandre, five of his most magnificent works will be at auction: the 1927 Étoile du Nord (est. $14,000-$17,000), the rare smaller format of his 1936 Simca / La Cinq Ne Coûte Que 9.900 frs (est. $12,000-$15,000), the 1929 Flèche d'Argent / Aéropostale (est. $15,000-$20,000), and the classic 1938 Normandie / 60 Voyages (est. $10,000-$12,000).
Fans of Art Nouveau will delight in our selection of 24 works by Alphonse Mucha. Important images include his 1898 Waverley Cycles (est. $20,000-$25,000), the before-text printing of his 1896 The Seasons (est. $40,000-$50,000), his 1898 Job (est. $8,000-$10,000), the 1899 Moët & Chandon (est. $30,000-$35,000), the 1902 The Stars (est. $60,000-$70,000), and his 1912 Sixth Sokol Festival (est. $30,000-$40,000).
For further masterpieces of the Belle Époque, look no further than Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This auction features 12 of his most iconic designs, including the 1896 Troupe de Mlle Églantine (est. $30,000-$35,000), his 1899 Le Jockey (est. $50,000-$60,000), the 1893 Aristide Bruant Dans Son Cabaret (est. $35,000-$45,000), the “qui?” variant of his 1894 L’Artisan Moderne (est. $25,000-$30,000), and his 1895 La Revue Blanche (est. $17,000-$20,000).
Public viewings will be held daily from February 26-March 13. For more information and to order the catalogue, visit www.posterauctions.com. You may call the gallery at (212) 787-4000. For general inquiries, the email address is info@rennertsgallery.com.
