Clients from far and wide joined in the hot bidding at Swann Galleries’ annual auction of Rare & Important Travel Posters on Monday, November 13. The resulting sale grossed more than any previous sale of posters in this category at Swann.
Nicholas Lowry, Swann president and poster specialist, said, “This was our best Travel Posters auction ever. Collectors and the dealers who represent them are realizing that rare posters in good condition must be fiercely fought for at auction.”
Among the most competitive items were classic train images including A.M. Cassandre’s, “Etoile du Nord,” Paris, 1927, $9,000; Frank Newbold’s “New ‘Rheingold’ Express,” London, circa 1935, $10,200; and Leslie Ragan’s “The New 20th Century Limited,” Long Island, 1938, $24,000. Also featuring travel by train was Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples, promoting the first funicular railway, Naples, circa 1937, $3,600.
Popular early aviation items were H. Schutz’s “Bodensee-Wasserflug” for a German air show, Stuttgart, 1913, and Henri Lemaire’s “Circuit des 3 Fleuves,” a hydroplane and hydrofoil contest canceled due to the breakout of World War I, Brussels, 1914, $6,480 each; a previously unseen poster by R.H.B., showing Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis flying into Paris, “He Knew He Could — And He Made Good,” East Milton, Mass., 1927, $16,800; “Airplane Rides / Inman Bros Flying Circus,” circa 1929, $7,200; and Ottomar Anton’s zeppelin image, “Nach Sudamerika in 3 Tagen! / Hamburg-Amerika Linie,” Hamburg, 1936, $9,600.
Advertisements for commercial airlines included Frank Mackintosh’s coveted image “San Francisco — Hawaii Overnight! / Via Pan American — to the Orient,” circa 1938, $10,200; Pan American “Paris à New York,” $4,320; and David Klein’s “New York / Fly TWA,” $2,280.
California tourism posters performed well, including the large and detailed image depicting the Sutro Baths, an attraction once located outside of San Francisco, 1896, $14,400; Jon O. Brubaker’s “California / America’s Vacation Land,” Long Island City, 1925, $20,400; and Horney’s “California — The Year ‘Round,” 1934, $10,200.
Highlights among ten extremely scarce Works Progress Administration (WPA) posters promoting travel to national parks were Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park, circa 1938, which brought $9,000 and $6,000 respectively.
Several images promoting angling in Australia hooked collectors, each selling for more than double their presale estimates. John Vickery’s “Tasmania Australia,” Melbourne, 1933, fetched $4,080; Harry Kelly’s “Tasmania / Australia for the Angler,” $3,600; “Tasmania / The Anglers’ Paradise,” Melbourne, 1933, $2,880; and James Northfield, “Australia / Great Barrier Coral Reef,” Melbourne, circa 1935, $9,600.
The sale also offered a run of colorful and intricate images promoting travel in India. M.V. Dhurandhar’s posters for the South Indian Railway’s Pilgrim Line, “Srirangam on the Pilgrim Line,” Bombay, circa 1925; “Tiruvannamalai on the Pilgrim Line,” circa 1925; “Madura, Bombay,” circa 1935; and “Mistri’s Rameswaram for Holy Bathing & Shraddhas,” Bombay, each sold for $6,240.
All prices given include the buyer’s premium.
Swann Galleries, is at 104 East 25th Street. To consign items to future poster auctions, Gael Zafrany, 212-254-4710, extension 53, gzafrany@swanngalleries.com.
For more information, www.swanngalleries.com.
