The poster, as we know it, dates back to the 19th century when
the innovation and use of high speed colour lithography by Jules
Chéret made mass production possible and brought this liberating
and exciting art form to the masses.
The application of art to commercial and industrial printing
soon spread throughout Europe and was adopted to advertise
everything from bicycles to absinthe.
Today posters remain a highly collectable area of the antiques
market thanks to their artistic style, historical interest and wall
power to name but three reasons for their continued appeal.
Whilst few people collect posters for purely investment
purposes, the idea of hanging a poster which is a talking-point,
provides visual enjoyment, and in most cases is an appreciating
asset, is an attractive proposition.
Vintage travel posters, along with film, sport and art posters,
are one of the largest collecting fields. Nostalgia for an era when
travel offered excitement and glamour has fuelled this demand.
Collectors can choose from a vast range of designs promoting
domestic trips or world travel predominately by rail companies as
well as airline and liner companies.
Ski posters are an area which over the last decade has
established a solid collecting field combining the themes of travel
and sport.
Traditionally, prestigious resorts, usually French and Swiss,
have carried a premium, with style, rarity and artist of secondary
importance. If a glamorous resort and a top artist combine, such as
St Moritz and Emil Cardinaux, then prices can be particularly
strong. The market doesn't always respond to this formula, however,
and can be volatile.
Above: St Moritz winter scene by Emil Cardinaux which sold
for £19,000 at CSK's ski sale in January 2012.
For example, in 2008 a 1952 poster of a downhill skier
advertising Russian resorts was pursued by a number of Russian
bidders to £30,000 against a £600-800 estimate at Christie's South
Kensington, making it the most expensive ski poster ever to sell at
auction. An identical poster offered in 2011 took just £1300.
The vintage posters market was not seriously established until
the 1980s. Christie's claim to be the first auction house
to host a sale dedicated to the category in 1982, although New York
auctioneers Swann Galleries also started specialising in
the area around the same time.
Interest back then was mainly based in the USA; posters were
virtually unexplored in the UK. However, in 1998 the V&A helped
raise awareness with the hugely successful temporary exhibition
The Power of the Poster.
Today, there are a number of vintage poster sales held each year
in London salerooms and in the regions which are dominated by UK
private collectors. Furthermore, editions of the most important
posters now receive attention from institutions and several
established dealers. Online bidding has also helped turn this
market global, yet despite the surge in demand, it continues to be
relatively affordable.
There are several factors which determine the value of a travel
poster:
1) Print method - posters dating from around 1880 to 1950 were
produced using stone lithography that gives the poster a particular
colour and texture. This method of production is no longer
cost-effective for advertisers, which make vintage originals even
more desirable.
2) Originality - to be valuable the poster must belong to the
printing designed by the artist originally and for which they used
lithographic stone faces.
3) Designer - if the creator is a recognised artist (such as
Roger Broders, Emil Cardinaux and Edward McKnight Kauffer) the
poster naturally becomes more valuable.
4) Theme - Popular themes such as British Rail, The Underground
or posters promoting glamorous locations such as Monaco are
considered more desirable.
5) Rarity - Travel posters with a limited production run
(particularly during the First World War when fewer were produced)
generally demand a higher premium.
6) Condition and conservation - Travel posters, like all vintage
posters offered at auction, are graded from A to D according to
their state (ranging from optimum condition through to needing
restoration) which can greatly affect the prices they fetch. Many
posters are linen-backed, which is done by adding a protective
material behind the poster to hold it firm.
A Century of Posters by Martijn F Le Coultre and Alston
W Purvis, Lund Humphries (2002). ISBN 978-0-85331-863-7.
Power of the Poster by Margaret Timmers, Victoria
and Albert Museum(2003). ISBN 978-0-8109-6615-4.
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