Our annual auctions of Rare & Important Travel Posters are destinations in and of themselves. On October 26, we offered more spectacular examples that embodied a century’s worth of technological development.…
Ladislav Sutnar, III Delnicka Olympiada [Third Workers Olympiad], poster, 1934. Inspiration-driven publisher Designers & Books is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a facsimile edition of Visual Design in Action, the iconic…
Swann President and Posters specialist Nicholas D. Lowry writes beautifully about the December 17 auction of Travel Posters from the Julius Paul Collection. Read on for his notes on the sale.…
Our auction rooms may be dark until September, but that doesn’t mean our specialists aren’t busy these days. In addition to combing through consignments and cataloguing lots for our Fall…
Alphonse Mucha’s Art Nouveau advertisement for JOB rolling papers was the top lot in our August 6 auction Coming on the heels of tremendous media coverage (see: The Telegraph,…
Swann Galleries’ August 6 auction of Vintage Posters features a trio of posters promoting Buffalo Bill, which date from 1888 to 1908. Lot 267: P. Frenzeny’s portrait of the Wild…
The image is so iconic, it’s been co-opted countless times, but in Swann Galleries’ upcoming Vintage Posters auction we have the original: a 1939 Keep Calm and Carry On poster. When…
The name Alphonse Mucha is synonymous with extravagant Art Nouveau depictions of beautiful women. And, while he is known for his posters advertising the talents of actresses such as Sarah…
In Belle Epoch France, posters were used to advertise everything from goods and services to exhibitions and magazines. The result was an all-out poster craze, with collectors putting aside images…
Eve Kahn’s recent New York Times piece: “Posters Lost to Nazis are Recovered, and Up for Sale” explored the similarities and differences between two recently restituted major poster collections, the Hans Sachs…
Todd Weyman poses with Orly Genger’s art installation in Madison Square Park One of the great things about working at Swann Galleries is its proximity to Madison Square Park, a…
On Sunday, March 24, the Affichemuseum, or Poster museum, in Hoorn will open its doors for a special exhibition of Czech Posters From the Collection of the Lowry Family of…
The selection of Vintage Posters in Swann’s upcoming August 1st sale represents a wide range of images from the late 19th-century through the 1980’s. Perhaps most notable is the huge…
Last Thursday’s sale of Modernist Posters achieved several auction records, both for individual posters and for designers, and saw strong results across the board. The day’s top lot, a poster…
This week we said goodbye to beloved illustrator and author Maurice Sendak. He holds a special place in the hearts of our Swann family as told through an anecdote relating…
With The Avengers earning over $200 million in its first three days, it’s hard to imagine that there is anyone who hasn’t fallen in love with those classic heroes. In…
Thursday’s sale of Modernist Posters features several examples of modernist typography from major innovators of the form, including Max Bill, Walter Dexel and Jan Tschichold, all associates of the Bauhaus. Versions…
Last week, we kicked off the auction season with a sale of Vintage Posters, with very strong results – in fact, it was our highest-grossing February poster sale to date.…
Ernest Haskell’s Truth / Xmas, New York, 1896. Skiing for sport began in the mid-nineteenth century in Northern Europe, although the activity as a means of transport and hunting dates…
The December 15th sale was the first time the complete work of a single poster artist has come to auction. The Complete Poster Works of Roger Broders offered 100 lots…
Friday’s Rare & Important Travel Posters sale was a tremendous success, and a host of new and returning collectors came out in unexpected force to bid on the scarce…
Among the many advertisements for tempting domestic and exotic locations in Friday’s Rare & Important Travel Posters auction, is a particularly fine selection of images promoting Chicago. Ervine Metzl, Chicago,…
The top lot in yesterday’s Vintage Posters auction was May Belfort, a depiction of the Irish performer who amused Toulouse-Lautrec with her singing act that went, “I’ve got a little…
Sharp-eyed vintage poster enthusiasts are marveling over the closing title sequence of this summer’s blockbuster movie Captain America, The First Avenger, which hit theaters on July 22nd. The movie’s closing…
When it comes to vintage poster design, one of the first images people conjure is that of Jane Avril, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s famous cancan dancer, her stockinged leg exposed from…
Jean Dupas’s Bal des Étudiants was the highest priced lot in yesterday’s Modernist Posters auction. The work, which sold for $36,000, is the essence of French Art Deco. Dupas is known for his…
In the U.S., we are familiar with Mather Work Incentive posters that used short and witty phrases to motivate workers and increase productivity; and Character-Culture-Citizenship Guides, issued for use in American classrooms to encourage…
A March 2011 CK ad campaign featuring Lara Stone may or may not have used the F-word. Last month, Calvin Klein was in the news (again) thanks to a controversial…
The Sutro Baths were the brainchild of former San Francisco Mayor and businessman Adolph Sutro. Built near his famous Cliff House, the baths occupied a stunning location overlooking the Pacific…
Nicholas D. Lowry, Swann President and Current President of the International Auctioneers consortium, recently shared his thoughts on the impact of the economic downturn on the auction business. The Cycle…
