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: Tom Purvis

Last week, we wrote about a vintage metal advertising sign that we bought recently. It was designed by Tom Purvis who produced a whole host of advertising material during his career.

Tom Purvis (1888-1959) specialised in designing travel posters; he produced over 100 of them for London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) for whom he worked for twenty years.

Other organisations he designed advertising material for include Austin Reed’s (the gentlemen’s outfitters), the British Industries Fair (aka BIF – an exhibition centre in Birmingham), the National Savings Movement and Canadian Pacific.

He also created the iconic It’s Up to You 2nd World War propaganda poster of Britannia.

_credit

Additional image credits:
Invaluable

Designer Desire: Stan Krol

Stan Krol (1910-1985) was a Polish-born, London-based graphic designer. During the 20th century, he produced publicity material for companies such as GPO (who he worked for from the 1940s), RoSPA, BOAC and London Transport for whom he designed between 1966 and 1972.

The Postal Museum have half a dozen or so of his designs available for sale on their website. Original vintage examples come up on eBay and Etsy from time to time… and they’re very reasonably priced!

_credit

Additional image credits:
The Postal Museum

Designer Desire: Tomi Ungererer

Tomi Ungererer (1931–2019) was a French born illustrator of children’s books (and some for adults) and posters. His first book was The Mellops Go Flying, about an adventurous family of pigs. The follow-up was entitled The Mellops Go Diving for Treasure, after which more were added to the series.

After leaving his homeland, he has travelled and lived all around the world. He moved to New York in the 1950s where he created work for publications such as The New York Times, Village Voice, Life and Esquire. In 1971, he and his 3rd wife emigrated to rural Nova Scotia, Canada where he became a farmer. In the mid-1970s, they moved again, this time to West Cork in Ireland; they divided their time between here and Strasbourg until his death in 2019.

Much as I love his children’s book illustrations, it’s his hard-hitting political posters that really grab my attention. In his own words:

Posters for me are the most challenging and gratifying exercise. A poster has to act by impact, to catch the eye of a passerby within a few seconds. I would say the poster is more of an art form than most other kinds of advertising.
In the 1960’s I started to make political posters. Two subjects sparked my revulsion and my anger: racial segregation and the War on Vietnam. Later I did posters for other causes such as Amnesty International, liberty of the press, animal rights, ecology, nuclear disarmament and so on.

In 2007, the Tomi Ungerer Museum in his home-town of Strasbourg first opened its doors. Back in 1975, he’d donated a large part of his work and currently, the museum’s collection includes 11,000 of his drawings, as well as 6,500 toys from his personal collection.

As well as being an illustrator, he was a sculptor and architect. He designed a kindergarten in Karlsruhe, Germany which is uniquely shaped like a reclining cat. The front door is its mouth and its tail is a silver slide through which the children can exit.

_credit

Additional image credits:
Phaidon | Tomi Ungererer

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: vintage posters

Auction alert: Original vintage posters

Designer Desire: Tom Purvis

Designer Desire: Stan Krol

Designer Desire: Tomi Ungererer