PAI's 80th Rare Posters Auction Earns $1.9 Million

Alphonse Mucha’s “Precious Stones” Panels Set A New World Record, Hitting $192,000

April 3, 2020

Poster Auctions International’s (PAI) first sale of the year, held Feb 23, finished at $1.9 million in sales. Auction LXXX demonstrated fervent passion for posters of all eras and styles.
Jack Rennert, president of PAI, was thrilled with bidders’ avid interest in a wide range of works. “Works by Alphonse Mucha and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec are always highly sought-after, as exhibited in this auction’s record sales for designs by these artists,” said Rennert. “But we were pleasantly surprised to see a similarly impassioned interest in lesser known works, including posters that we have never had at auction before.”
Mucha’s enduring esteem reached a fever pitch with his rare, and incredibly opulent, “Precious Stones” from 1902. The four decorative panels each personify a different gemstone, and this larger format version is scarce, only three or four full sets are known to exist. They sold for $192,000. Prices reported include buyer’s premiums.
“Precious Stones” not only claimed the top sale at auction, but also set a new world record for sales of this work. The passion for Mucha continued with his iconic 1896 “The Seasons,” which are four idyllic decorative panels, and were won for $45,600. Also, his celestial 1896 design for Sarah Bernhardt, “La Dame aux Camelias,” was claimed for $31,200. It is a bull market for premier examples of Mucha’s work.
The prestige of the Belle Epoque continued with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The top sale from this Art Nouveau master was his joyous 1894 “Confetti,” which realized $40,800. His rare 1893 “Les Vieilles Histoires” sparked interest from multiple parties, leading to a winning bid of $31,200 against an estimate of $14,000-$17,000.
For the father of the poster, Jules Chéret, sales were similarly ardent. His 1897 “Folies-Bergère / Loïe Fuller” has not been at auction since 2012, and collectors vied for the win. Estimated at $5,000-$6,000, the work sold for $16,800.
Fans of Art Deco also contributed to enthusiastic activity on auction day. Leonetto Cappiello’s works are always quite popular, but this time, a maquette stole the show. His 1927 preparatory work for Cognac Monnet, estimated at $30,000-$40,000, achieved a selling price of $52,800. The ebullient 1911 “Florio / S.O.M.” garnered $18,000, easily surpassing its estimate of $7,000-$9,000, while the 1902 “Champagne de Rochegré” topped out at $9,600 against an estimate of $5,000-$6,000.
At the beginning of the auction, black images from the collection of Keith Williams were offered. By far the most impressive sale from this section was a rare 1918 poster image, “Colored Man is No Slacker.” The political recruitment ad was to enlist black soldiers and quickly passed the estimated $800-$1,000 for a sweeping victory of $12,000. Similar zest was exhibited for Pogédaieff’s graphic 1931 designed poster titled “Joséphine Baker,” which was claimed for $10,200 against an estimate of $4,000-$5,000.
American designers had their moment in the limelight as well. Fans of San Francisco rock posters were taken with Randy Tuten’s 1970 “Jefferson Airplane / Quicksilver Messenger / Santana (‘Winterland’)” poster for a benefit concert to bail out the Grateful Dead after their New Orleans arrest. Estimated at $2,000-$2,500, it earned $4,800. A rare ca. 1910 poster “Buffalo Bill & Pawnee Bill / A Sioux Chief,” by an anonymous designer, claimed $7,800 against an estimate of $2,500-$3,000, and Penfield’s 1898 “Golf Calendar” appealed to many a golf enthusiast, and its $10,000-$12,000 estimate was swiftly surpassed, selling for $21,600.
Poster Auctions International’s next sale will be held on June 14.
Poster Auctions International is located at 26 W. 17th Street, New York, N.Y.
For more information, call 212-787-4000 or email info@posterauctions.com.

 

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