LONDON.- The Auction Room – Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions announced a 164 lot online sale of Vintage Posters. Before the explosion of the internet, posters were the most effective and powerful form of advertising spanning all topics from films to food and drink. The sale presents a diverse collection that will take you on a journey across the world from some of the darkest periods of history to the most exotic holiday destinations. Online bidding will close on Tuesday 14th October 2014.

A poignant collection of WWI posters demonstrate the importance of posters in supporting the War effort in Britain. Leading the collection is a set of eight posters from the ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ series by Fougasse [Lot 84]. Carless Talk was a very popular campaign designed to discourage talking about sensitive material. Other examples were intended to educate the people and build moral.

An Art Nouveau poster by artist Henri Privat-Livemont advertising Absinthe is an attractive example of promoting art during 20th century [Lot 135], whilst an iconic example in the Art Deco style is Cassandre’s ‘Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet’ [Lot 66]. Cassandre believed that “Designing a poster means solving a technical and commercial problem….it means communicating with the masses in a language that can be instantly understood by the common man…It means telling the crowd a story.” Further examples of advertising art include two very rare and sought after London Underground posters by British marine painter Charles Pears, ‘Kings Reach’ [Lot 129] and ‘Pool of London’ [Lot 130].

More exotic locations than London are advertised in the travel posters section. These collectible works epitomise the ‘Jet Age’ during the 50s and 60s, when Jet airliners made travel to distant and glamorous locations faster and easier than ever before.

A rare group of Humphrey Bogart film posters headline the opening section of film posters. The group were produced for the Belgium cinema and show Bogart in some of his most famous films such as The African Queen (1951). Elsewhere in the section are film posters for Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961, [Lot 10, est. £100-200], The Exorcist, 1973, [Lot 12, est. £150-250] and Jaws, 1965, [Lot 13, est. £200-400].

The sale of Vintage Posters will be listed exclusively on The Auction Room’s innovative online platform with pre-sale viewing at Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street, London W1S 1PP from Sunday 12th October.