The 3ft 3in x 2ft (99 x 62cm) colour lithographed poster, which depicts not only a downhill skier but a port with palm trees, will feature in Christie’s South Kensington’s specialist ski sale on February 13 where it is one of just over 300 lots of posters, paintings and sculpture devoted to this increasingly popular winter sport. It also has the distinction of being the first African ski poster to come to auction at Christie’s and is expected to fetch in the region of £500-700.
Among the sale’s highlights is Emil Cardinaux’s 1920 colour lithographic poster measuring 4ft 2in x 3ft (1.27m x 90cm) advertising the attractions of the Palace Hotel, St Moritz, with Art Deco figures relaxing on the balcony, which is expected to make in the region of £5000-7000.
On the slopes? – It must be Algeria!
Switzerland, Austria, The Pyrenees, the Rockies are all names one readily associates with skiing. Algeria, on the other hand, conjures up sun, sea and beaches but this poster advertising a winter sports week in 1930, 69 kilometres from Algiers, aims to show another side of North Africa.
