Sale 2459 - Rare & Important Travel Posters, October 26, 2017

IVAR GULL (DATES UNKNOWN) 197 c PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD / THE GATEWAY TO AMERICA. 1929. 40x25 inches, 101 1 / 2 x63 1 / 2 cm. Charles Francis Press, New York. Condition A- / B+: creases and abrasions along sharp vertical and horizontal folds; tear at top margin; creases, abrasions and minor staining in margins and image. Paper. “PRR [The Pennsylvania Railroad] began experimenting with posters in the mid-twenties, at first reformatting the most popular of its annual calendar paintings as single-sheet posters for European distribution . . . still it was not until 1929 [ironically the same year that saw the beginning of the Great Depression] that PRR turned to posters in a big way, commissioning a series of six that were also designed for use as car cards . . . All were designed by Ivar Gull, a New York City artist who . . . also illustrated the line’s timetables” (Zega p. 85). Gull designed one poster for Pan Am, several for travel in Sweden and at least one for Norway. This dramatic, bustling street scene of the front of the Eastern façade of the McKim, Mead and White masterpiece is one of the few posters that were designed that depict the glory that was Penn Station. rare . We could find no other copies at auction. Zega p. 89. [4,000/6,000]