Auction alert: Original vintage posters

This week, we’re shining a spotlight on a specialist auction of original vintage posters.

The AntikBar sale is on Saturday 4 September, starting at 2pm. Up for auction are 463 original vintage posters from across the globe including examples from the travel, advertising, sport, war, propaganda and film genres.

We’ve selected half a dozen lots to showcase below.

Lot 64: Advertising Poster Switzerland Swiss Fair Delapraz Lausanne

Original vintage advertising poster for the 36th National Fair Comptoir Suisse in Lausanne, Switzerland held 10 – 25 September 1955 with artwork by Delapraz. The Comptoir Suisse / Swiss Counter is a popular annual fair where individual traders, local producers and larger companies showcase cultural and culinary Swiss traditions. Following the Great Depression the fair became a way to strengthen the domestic market. The image shows Mercury – the Roman god of trade – drawn in red with a yellow cape, riding a pink horse with a blue saddle on a black background with white and yellow text across the bottom of the poster. Printed by Roth and Sauter S.A Lausanne. Good condition, repaired tears, creasing. Country of issue: Switzerland, designer: Delapraz, size (cm): 100×65, year of printing: 1955

Lot 106: Advertising Poster London Transport Underground Green Rover Countryside Bus Bartelt

Original vintage advertising poster issued by London Transport, promoting the Green Rover ticket. Green Thought…Green Rover. The image by Edward Robert Bartelt (1935-2009) shows a double decker bus constructed out of trees and hedges, with the red London Underground logo for wheels – through the window, smiling passengers in colourful outfits are visible and the bus is surrounded by wildlife including boxing hares and birds, all underneath a yellow sun. Underneath the image, purple text informs the reader that Green Rover tickets can be used on 200 country bus routes in London’s countryside, and are valid for a day, alongside details of when and where to purchase tickets. Printed by Leonard Ripley & Co, London. Good condition, creasing, staining, backed on linen. Country of issue: UK, designer: Edward Robert Bartelt, size (cm): 101×63, year of printing: 1961

Lot 145: Advertising Poster Crazy Horse Saloon Pop Art Cabaret Paris France

Original vintage advertising poster for Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris – France featuring a colourful pop art illustration of lady silhouettes with diagonal stripes and stylised yellow lettering set over blue background. Le Crazy Horse Saloon or Le Crazy Horse de Paris is a Parisian cabaret known for its stage shows performed by nude female dancers and for the diverse range of magic and variety ‘turns’ between each nude show and the next. Its owners helped to create related cabaret and burlesque shows in other cities. Good condition, creasing, minor tears, tape on reverse. Country of issue: France, designer: Strack, size (cm): 88×52, year of printing: 1970s

Lot 157: Advertising Poster Bernard Buffet Art Exhibition Maurice Garnier Japan

Original vintage advertising poster for an exhibition of work by Bernard Buffet at the Galerie Maurice Garnier, titled Le Japon / Japan. The featured image shows two figures in traditional Japanese dress looking towards the viewer, on a light blue scribbled background. Text is in a black stylised font and includes the date and location of the exhibition. Bernard Buffet (1928-1999) was a French expressionist artist who won multiple awards for his portraits, landscapes and still-lifes. Good condition, tape marks, folds, creasing. Country of issue: France, designer: Bernard Buffet, size (cm): 71×51, year of printing: 1981

Lot 176: Advertising Poster Camel Pop Art French Paper Mill

Original vintage advertising poster for Pop-Tone by French Paper, featuring a colourful pop art illustration of a yellow and green one-humped camel with holding reins in its mouth and a black and yellow seat on its back set over light purple background, with informative text below the image advertising 24 colours of a new paper line that is inspired by pop art, pop music, pop rocks turning design into eye candy. French Paper Company is a family-owned business located in Niles, Michigan, the mill has been established more than 140 years ago. Excellent condition. Country of issue: USA, designer: Charles S. Anderson, size (cm): 61×48, year of printing: 2000s

Lot 298: Propaganda Poster Bill Jones Tongue Temper Thought Workplace Motivation Parker Holladay

Original vintage propaganda poster – Three T’s that need holding! Tongue, Temper, Thought – “dont let them get away from You” Bill Jones. – Corporate motivational poster featuring people clinging onto the blue, grey, and green capes of three figures, set over yellow background. International Copyright 1928 USA. Parker Holladay Co. (Eng.) Ltd. Drayton House, London. W.C. 1. Printed in England. Very good condition, minor creasing, minor browning on margins. Country of issue: UK, designer: Unknown, size (cm): 71×56, year of printing: 1928

Designer Desire: Paul Peter Piech

A week or so ago, we were in an antique shop in Aberystwyth when a framed, limited-edition, lino-cut print poster hanging on the wall caught our eye; it was signed, ‘Paul Peter Piech’. We’d never heard of the artist, so I made a note of the name to check him out when we returned home.

Paul Peter Piech (1920-1996) was a Brooklyn-born artist of Ukrainian parentage. As a GI during the 2nd World War, he’d been posted to Cardiff. Whilst there, he met his future wife, Irene Tompkins. She didn’t fancy the idea of moving to the US, so they remained in the UK, eventually settling in Wales.

Piech’s posters were often on the subjects of equality, justice, human rights, anti-war, anti-racism, the environment and jazz. His artworks were regularly set with quotes from pre-eminent poets and orators such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, John F. Kennedy, Harri Webb and Walt Whitman.

In 1959, Piech founded the Taurus Press of Willow Dene in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. It printed limited-edition books on poetry by the likes of William Blake, Hugo Manning, John Donne, John Cotton, Neil Spratling and Graham Searle. He provided the accompanying illustrations for these publications.

In the 1980s, Piech donated in excess of 2,500 prints and posters to the V&A’s permanent collection. After his death, his family donated an extensive portfolio of his later work to the Regional Print Centre and Art & Design department at Yale College, Wrexham.

Because of his abundance of production (and despite the small print runs), his works are fairly easy to come by; original prints and posters can be found at auction or on eBay and Etsy. Books by and about him can be found on Amazon and Hive.

I’ve been called a Fascist. I’ve been called a Communist. I’ve been called a racist. I’ve been called everything after any of my shows happen because of certain posters, you see. But they can’t pin me down to any ‘isms… I just look at humanity the way it is and then I make a graphic expression of it. The purpose of graphic expression is to realize some truth that they’re missing and to do something about it… I don’t want to sit around and be silent.

Paul Peter Piech

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F is for… Fireworks

We bought this vintage advertising poster some time ago and put it away…

…it’s now returned from the local framers and we’re very pleased with the result.

The poster is for Brock’s Fireworks and dates from the 1950s/60s – it would have been on display in a toy shop or newsagents.

The artist is D. Nockels and we love his illustration.

We’ll be adding the poster to the Child’s Play section of our shop sometime this week. We’re currently in the process of sorting & framing various vintage artworks that we’ve gathered over recent years – some of the other items include travel posters, film memorabilia etc, so watch this space!

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: Posters and Prints

Auction alert: Original vintage posters

Designer Desire: Paul Peter Piech

F is for… Fireworks