Auction Highlights: Vintage Posters & Graphic Design — February 20, 2025

At Auction Thursday, February 20 at 10:30 AM ET

Swann’s upcoming auction presents a diverse collection of vintage posters spanning winter sports and travel, Art Nouveau, fashion, and graphic design, featuring works by some of the most celebrated artists of the past 150 years.

Art Nouveau

A stunning array of Art Nouveau includes decorative panels and plates, calendars, periodicals and posters by Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Jules Chéret, Aubrey Beardsley, Will Bradley, Louis Rhead, Leopoldo Metlicovitz and others.

Graphic Design

Our offering of Graphic Design this year is brimming with the work of prominent artists such as Ludwig Hohlwein, Ladislav Sutnar, Lester Beall, Fortunato Depero, Leo Leonni, Erik Nitsche, Tadanori Yokoo, Edward McKnight Kauffer, A.M. Cassandre, Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, and many others. Also featured is an exceptional private collection of 1920s and 30s Soviet aviation images, all part of a broader selection of Russian posters.

Ski & Winter Vintage Posters

A trademark of every Swann winter poster auction is a robust ski section, and this year is no exception. From beautiful pre-World War I Alpine images by Gustav Jahn, Otto Barth, Hugo d’Alési and Gustav Reckziegel, to a travelogue of important resorts and destinations such as St. Moritz, Pontresina, Zermatt, Jungfrau, Kandersteg, and the Tyrol—all depicted by some of the most renowned artists of their eras: Emil Cardinaux, Roger Broders, Martin Peikert and Hugo Laubi. American winter pastimes are not left out, with Sun Valley, New Hampshire and Dartmouth Winter Carnival posters also well represented.

Fashion and Film

Of note is a lovely, scarce grouping of posters for the famous Swiss clothing store Paul Kehl Zurich, popularly known as PKZ. Spanning from 1908 through 1935, the selection is a wardrobe of famous artistic styles and highly regarded artists such as Emil Cardinaux, Burkhard Mangold, Otto Baumberger, Herbert Matter, and Alois Carigiet.

Also represented in this auction is a run of icons of cinematic history, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Captain Blood, and two scarce posters for The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn and  Olivia de Havilland.

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