Lithographic Vintage Posters

Henri Matisse "Madame de Pompadour" 1951

Vintage poster collecting became fashionable at the turn of the 19th Century. Vintage posters were a vibrant and expressive form of advertising meant to attract the throngs of everyday consumers in cities both large and small. These vintage posters had to be visually striking and immediately convey their message in order to entice the viewer. Vintage posters were typically placed at street (eye) level, and often these vintage posters were positioned in prominent areas such as gallery windows, railway stations, street kiosks, or on the sides of buildings where the vintage posters could be easily seen.

Pablo Picasso "Galerie Beyeler" 1967

As vintage poster collecting grew more popular, vintage posters were burglarized from billboards at an alarming rate, and it became increasingly difficult for advertisers to keep their vintage posters on the streets. As a solution to the problem, vintage poster lithography workshops increased production and began selling the vintage posters to the public.

Marc Chagall "Le Baie des Anges" 1962

These collectable vintage posters were created in lithography print workshops (also known as ateliers) that specialized in the print medium of Lithography. The Atelier Mourlot, founded in 1852, was a lithography print studio located in Paris that produced a number of vintage posters. Originally a printer of fine wallpaper, the Atelier Mourlot became involved in the printing of illustrated books as well as high quality vintage posters for the French National Museums and major foreign institutions. By 1937 the Mourlot lithography studio had established a reputation as the largest print workshop of vintage posters by master artists.

Joan Miro "Galerie Maeght" 1948

The Atelier Mourlot lithography studio was generationally operated by the sons of founder Francois Mourlot. The Atelier Mourlot took a modern artistic turn when Fernand Mourlot invited the master artists of the time into the Mourlot lithography studios to learn the technique of lithography. The Atelier Mourlot lithography studio played host to many major 20th century master artists including: Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Miro, Chagall, Leger, Dubuffet, Moore, Le Corbusier, Calder, Kelly, Rauschenberg, Matta, Bacon, Ernst, Lichtenstein, and many more.

 

Marc Chagall "The Magic Flute" 1967

Mourlot encouraged these master artists to work directly on the lithography stones or plates to create original vintage posters which would then be printed in small editions. The results of this artistic print collaboration between master artists and Mourlot were technically inventive, visually captivating and opened a unique realm of creative expression known as Fine Art lithography. Mourlot was proud of these vintage posters which bore the Mourlot family name and they became known worldwide for their originality, beauty and craftsmanship.

Original vintage posters by master artists of the 20th Century, have come to be recognized as a highly collectible form of art, whether for pleasure or for investment purposes. World-renowned museums exhibit vintage posters and many have permanent collections of vintage posters. Magnificent examples of such vintage poster collections can be found at the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Le Corbusier "Tapisseries Recents" 1960

Henri Matisse Biography

Odalisque au Coffret Rouge,1952
Aquatint

“What I dream of is an art of balance, purity and serenity devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter…like a comforting influence, a mental balm—something like a good armchair in which one rests from physical fatigue.”
                                                   – Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was born in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in northern France. Matisse first began painting in 1889, when Matisse’s mother gave him art supplies during a period of convalescence following an attack of appendicitis. Henri Matisse discovered “a kind of paradise” in painting, and Matisse abandoned his legal career, to the deep disappointment of Matisse’s father.

In 1891 Henri Matisse moved to Paris to study art at the Acadamie Julian. It was here that Henri Matisse achieved proficiency in academic painting in the classic reserved style. In 1897, Henri Matisse was exposed to the artwork of Van Gogh and the palette of the Impressionists, which deeply changed Matisse’s understanding of color. Henri Matisse was greatly influenced by Neo-Impressionist artists: Eduard Manet, Auguste Rodin, Cezanne, Paul Signac and Gauguin.

Woman with a Hat, 1905
Oil on canvas

Henri Matisse had his first solo show at art dealer Ambroise Vollard’s gallery in 1904. At the 1905 Salon d’Automne, Henri Matisse and artists Andre Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and Albert Marquet, exhibited together. Henri Matisse and his colleagues’ intensely vibrant, spontaneously painted works were jeered by the public, who deemed them exceedingly primitive, brutal and violent. The group of artists was dubbed “Les Fauves” (the wild beasts) by art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Other Fauvist included: Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, and Maurice de Vlaminck. Matisse’s painting from the exhibition “Woman with a Hat” was bought by Gertrude Stein, who would become an important collector and supporter of Matisse.

Le Buffet, 1929
Pochoir

Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo were avid patrons of Matisse’s work and through Stein’s salons Henri Matisse was introduced to other important collectors as well as artists. In 1907 Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse met at one of Stein’s salons. This was the beginning of a creative association and rivalry between Picasso and Matisse. “No one has ever looked at Matisse's painting more carefully than I; and no one has looked at mine more carefully than Matisse.” stated Pablo Picasso.

After World War I, Henri Matisse had gained a high reputation and Matisse was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1925. Henri Matisse was an internationally recognized artist by 1930. During the 1940s Henri Matisse also worked in the Mourlot Studio in Paris, creating black-and-white prints for several illustrated books and over one hundred original lithographs, woodcuts, linocuts, and etchings.

Decoupage, 1954
Lithograph

In 1941 Henri Matisse had two major operations for duodenal cancer which had a devastating effect on Matisse’s health and ability to paint. The surgeries left Matisse unable to stand upright in front of an easel, and Henri Matisse was confined to either a bed or a wheelchair. Undaunted by this immobility, Matisse would tape a piece of charcoal to a long stick and Matisse would draw on mounted paper or directly on the walls or ceilings. Henri Matisse discovered a new kind of artistic creativity with papiers découpés, abstract shapes cut from colored paper. “The paper cut out” Matisse said “allows me to draw in the color. It is a simplification for me. Instead of drawing the outline and putting the color inside it—the one modifying the other—I draw straight into the color”. These artworks rank as some of the most joyous artworks ever created by an artist at an advanced age and Henri Matisse continued creating paper cutout works until his death. In 1947 Henri Matisse published Jazz, a limited-edition illustrated book containing original prints (lithographs, etchings and woodcuts) of colorful, paper cut collages.

Odalisque Sur Fond Rouge, 1929
Pochoir

Henri Matisse died on November 3, 1954 in Nice as an innovative artist who explored color and form through his paintings, lithographs, etchings, linocuts, illustrated books, sculpture and stain glass windows. Pablo Picasso once said about Matisse: "All things considered, there is only Matisse".

What makes a good investment art piece?

As a beginning collector, you may find yourself wondering HOW you can determine whether the work you are interested in is a good investment. Multiple criteria will determine this important choice for you

Artist

As I previously established in an earlier post, for investment purposes it is wise to collect an established artist (see Who Should We Collect).

Artistic and Historical Significance

This criterion includes originality and creativity. When you are considering a work, ask yourself:

-Is the print an exceptional example of the artist’s work?

-Is it one of the artist’s signature styles?

-Is it one of the pinnacles of the artist's achievement in that style or with respect to his/her output in general?

-How does it relate to other works within that artist’s oeuvre?

-Does it relate to other artworks by other contemporaries of that artist and seem to be "of the moment"?

-Has the print been widely exhibited?

-Is it included in important books and catalogues about the artist?

Pablo Picasso, Le Repas Frugal, 1904, Original Etching

A good example of historical significance is this Pablo Picasso “Le Repas Frugal”. This etching was created early in Picasso’s career, and marks a pivotal moment between Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods.

Image

This is where the aesthetics come into play, and determines the demand for a print. There are multiple sub-criteria in this category, including expressiveness, emotional power, humor, complexity or creative economy of line.

There are also Technical considerations to take into account:

-How was the print produced?

-Does it display superior craftsmanship or technical excellence?

You may also hear a print be described as a “strong impression,” this literally means that the impression left on the paper was a “good pull” or a good press of the image.

Condition

This is especially pertinent to a print. Works on paper are delicate and can easily be damaged by mishandling, poor framing, exposure to strong light and of course the passage of time. But paper is much more resistant than we would imagine. When you look at a Rembrandt etching which is 400 years old and still in very good condition, you can realize that well preserved print can last for almost ever. Of course, the prints in good condition are more sought after by collectors and therefore their prices are higher.

Badly Damaged Etching, Artist Unknown

It is always important to determine the whole condition of a print including margins (full or not), stains, fading, etc..

A frame can be beautiful but can hide defects which can make the print of a much lesser value than the marked price.

Rarity

The international art market decides the price of a print, based on the principle of supply and demand. Original prints may exist in multiples, but they are still extremely limited. Considering an edition of 50 spread in the whole world you can easily do the math! If a certain print is in demand and the supply is no longer there, the price will go up. The rarity of a piece usually makes it more desirable and more valuable.

You should ask yourself:

-How large is the edition?

-Are there any variations within the edition?

-Has this artist produced many prints or very few?

I am often asked if the number of the edition also determines the value, and the answer is no, with a few exceptions. To the art market the number values are all the same so number 11/200 is the same as 199/200. Some people can value lower numbers, and or special numbers but this not relevant. Other exceptions are the proofs and special editions aside from the regular edition. These can be more valuable, because they can be seen as special.

Signature

Plate Signed

A signature by hand is important because we always prefer to see the direct intervention of the artist on an original print, although that does not mean that a print MUST be signed to be original. Some print editions are unsigned and still very expensive, a good example of this is Renoir's Enfant Au Biscuit, which was never signed but is still considered extremely valuable.

Hand Signed

Sometimes the signature is in the plate or stone. Sometimes the print is estate signed or estate stamped, meaning it bares the stamp of the Warhol Estate as an example. When researching a print it is very good to consult the catalogue raisonné for that artist, as it will help you determine how the specific edition was signed, if ever.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Enfant au Biscuit, circa 1898-99, Original Lithograph

Provenance

The provenance is the history of ownership. If a piece was owned by a prestigious collector or famous individual it might be viewed as more valuable. But this is rather true for unique works whose traceability is much easier. Usually the provenance of most prints in the market is unknown and this does not affect their value.