‘You can’t go wrong with a great syphilis poster’
A poster of two kittens sliding down a ski slope — in a pair of red boots — was sold for $4,200 yesterday, when it was auctioned alongside 452 other rare and vintage posters at the Swann Auction Galleries.
Other items sold at the auction include a poster designed to encourage immigration to Israel. Produced in 1936, it shows prospective migrants next to golden farmland and a glittering blue sea. It sold for $5,600. A New York Rangers poster from 1959, advertising a game against the Boston Bruins, sold for $4,400.
Nicholas Lowry, president of Swann Auction Galleries, said posters were once frowned upon by the art world but are now considered legitimate and valuable.
“It’s not uncommon for a poster to sell upwards of $50,000,” he said. “People used to think that posters were just something to stick on a dorm room wall. But they are not just decoration anymore. They really are collectable.”
Lowry said they provide a unique window into a fading era of American history. “Posters were never meant to be saved. They were meant to be plastered onto the walls and thrown out,” he said. “Seeing them today is almost like peering through a window that was never meant to be open.”
Other items in the sale included posters by Leonetto Cappiello, an important Italian graphic artist, and a collection of posters from early 20th-century circuses.
Lowry couldn’t pick his personal favorite from the sale, but said several held a special place in his heart.
“Look at this one,” he said. “It’s a poster about syphilis. You can’t go wrong with a great syphilis poster. I’m not sure it’s my favorite but it’s certainly something worth noting.”
