215 290
ETHEL REED (1876-?)
326
●
THE HOUSE OF THE TREES
AND OTHER POEMS. 1895.
18x9
1
/
4
inches, 45
3
/
4
x23
1
/
2
cm. Lamson, Wolffe
& Co., New York.
Condition A / A-: light creasing and discoloration
in margins. Paper.
Reed’s biography remains a mystery within the
annals of the poster world. From an early career
as a book illustrator, she had a meteoric poster
design career. In 1895 and 1896, Reed produced
some 24 different posters, many of which
achieved international acclaim. In May 1896,
she went to Europe, designed one more poster,
and then completely disappeared from public
view. Her posters “favored female figures - if
young girls, they are often knowingly naughty -
frequently surrounded by either poppies or lilies,
which to the fin-de-siècle mind were fraught
with secret meanings” (Kiehl p. 191). Kiehl 237,
DFP-I 419, Reims 1285.
[800/1,200]
ETHEL REED (1876-?)
325
●
FOLLY OR SAINTLINESS. 1895.
20
1
/
4
x15 inches, 51
1
/
2
x38 cm. Heliotype Ptg. Co.,
Boston.
Condition B+: restored losses, repaired tears, creases
and abrasions in margins. repaired pin holes in
corners. Mounted on Japan.
“The work of Ethel Reed stands out for notice and
high appreciation, not only because of its great
artistic qualities, but because she . . . looks at the
world as a gracious moving surface, infinitely
shaded; she leaves success to itself, as if the world
were a theatre of fairies, an adorable procession of
passing impressions” (S.C. de Soissons, The Poster,
November 1898). “There is a happy balance
between the abstract elements of the pattern and
representational details of the design” (The
American Poster p. 19). Kiehl 239, DFP-I 421,
Reims 1284, Virginia p. 87, Margolin p. 169,
Keay p. 18, American Style 38.
[800/1,200]
325
326