NEW YORK, N.Y.- Swann Galleries annual auction of Rare & Important Travel Posters on Friday, November 11 offers many seldom-seen images from around the world, and marks the first time several of them have come to auction.
A strong selection of British posters includes Frederick C. Herricks Londons Underground / Nightly Carnival, 1924 ($3,000 to $4,000); one of the two golf posters designed by Tom Purvis for Cruden Bay, circa 1925 ($10,000 to $15,000); Montague Birrell Blacks futuristic view of London in This Is All in the Air / To-day the Solid Comfort of the Underground, 1926 ($5,000 to $7,500); and Henry George Gawthorns cheerful beach image, Redcar, 1930 ($8,000 to $12,000).
A colorful assortment of Canadian posters also features an image by Tom Purvis, this one with an elegant woman in a wide-brimmed hat leaning against a cruise ships rail, called Canadian Pacific / Happy Cruises, 1937 ($4,000 to $6,000).
Among the American highlights is a dazzling circa 1929 piece for Montauk Beach that captures the panache of the Jazz Age, and indeed, looks like a scene right out of The Great Gatsby, and is one of very few known copies ($12,000 to $18,000). From the same era is a previously unknown Art Deco image by Millar for Special Showing / General Motors Cars, Chicago, 1929 ($4,000 to $6,000). Other Chicago images include Ervin Metzls ad for the Rapid Transit Line, 1924 ($4,000 to $6,000); Willard Frederic Elmess rare view of the statue of Logan in Grant Park, 1924 ($6,000 to $9,000); and five scarce designs for the 1933 Worlds Fair by Glen C. Sheffer, Weimer Pursell and Hernando G. Villa.
For the New York Worlds fair in 1939, there are posters by Joseph Binder, Sascha Maurer, and, the catalogues cover lot, S. Hines Eastern Air Lines / Fly to the New York Worlds Fair, which is the rarest of all New York World's Fair posters, and is making its auction debut ($1,500 to $2,000).
Other eye-grabbing U.S. works are California / This Summer, a romantic view from the vantage point of a young woman in a flowing dress, circa 1933 ($6,000 to $9,000); and Edward M. Egglestons Billy Roses Aquacade, Cleveland, 1936, which is reminiscent of his famous Atlantic City poster ($3,000 to $4,000).
Classic European posters with sporty themes are Candido Aragonese de Farias circa 1910 charming views of activities at Cachats Majestic in Chamonix, in both winter ($7,000 to $10,000) and summer ($4,000 to $6,000); and Emil Cardinauxs ice skaters at Palace Hotel / St. Moritz, Zurich, 1921 ($10,000 to $15,000).
A run of posters promoting travel to Australia includes Gert Sellheims avant-garde Australia / Surf Club, Melbourne, circa 1936 ($3,000 to $4,000); and five of Eileen Mayos images featuring indigenous animals, such as fish at The Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, circa 1956 ($3,000 to $4,000), Koala, and a kangaroo, 1957 ($2,000 to $3,000 each).
Among the auctions highest priced pieces are posters promoting ocean liner travel, with those mentioning disaster ships among the rarest and most sought after. There is a Cunard Line poster depicting the Lusitania and the Mauretania, circa 1907, which is coming to auction for the first time ($12,000 to $15,000); and a White Star Line Titanic broadside advertising third-class tariffs for the ships return voyage, 1912 ($15,000 to $20,000). Also featured is A.M. Cassandres iconic Normandie / Voyage Inaugural, Paris, 1935 ($15,000 to $20,000).
Stylish aviation highlights are Roger Jourdains Aérodrome de Vichy, a very early and rare advertisement for an all but forgotten airshow, 1909 ($8,000 to $12,000); a pair of posters for Oberurseler Umlaufmotor / Motorfabrik Oberursel by Ludwig Hohlwein, Frankfurt, circa 1915 ($6,000 to $9,000 each); Ottomar Antons dirigible image, To Europe by Zeppelin, Hamburg, 1936 ($3,000 to $4,000); a previously undocumented Alitalia image by Corrado Mancioli, Rome, circa 1948 ($2,000 to $3,000); and David Kleins modern masterpiece, New York / Fly TWA, circa 1960 ($3,000 to $4,000).