Vintage Posters: August 3, 2023 Auction Highlights

Leopoldo Metlicovitz, *Alla Spezia,* 1907. Estimate $10,000 to $15,000.

The summer poster auction features one of the largest and most impressive collections of Italian Liberty-style posters to come to market in decades. More than fifty posters come from the collection and feature the work of many of Italy’s most renowned graphic designers: Oswaldo Balerio, Luigi Bompard, Mario Borgoni, Marcello Dudovich, Giovanni Mataloni, Aldo Mazza, Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Aleardo Terzi, and many others. Among the highlights are exceptional images that have not appeared on the international auction scene in over two decades, including Società Torinese Automobili Elettrici / Torino, circa 1910, and Alla Spezia, 1907.

^{Left: Leopoldo Metlicovitz, Scognamiglio Caramba, 1907. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000; right: Marcello Dudovich, Società Torinese Automobili Elettrici / Torino, circa 1910. Estimate $15,000 to $20,000.}

French Art Nouveau posters are led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s magnificent poster of Aristide Bruant, Ambassadeurs, 1892; exquisite, top-end works by Alphonse Mucha such as the complete 1896 series of The Seasons; and the complete 1899 Times of Day, his two posters for Moet & Chandon, all of Mucha’s Maîtres de l’Affiche images, plus many others.

From left to right: Alphonse Mucha, *Times of the Day,* group of four decorative panels, 1899. Estimate $30,000 to $40,000; Alphonse Mucha, *Moët & Chandon,* two posters, 1899. Estimate $25,000 to $35,000; Alphonse Mucha, *The Seasons,* group of four decorative panels, 1896. Estimate $40,000 to $60,000.

Left: Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, *2E. Exposition Des Artistes Animaliers,* 1909. Estimate $8,000 to $12,000; right: Jules Chéret, *Les Arts,* four decorative panels, 1891. Estimate $12,000 to $18,000.

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Beach and Summer resort posters will also be well represented, including Sutro Baths, 1896 and Orient Line to Australia, circa 1938. Early American entertainment is solidly represented by three scarce Buffalo Bill show posters — including Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Pioneer Exhibition, 1907 — and one of the great tattoo images, Captain Costentenus.