?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
ALEXEI BRODOVITCH (1898-1971) DONNET. 1925. 301/2x23 inches. Grau. Nerfi & Co., Paris. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins. Brodovitch was a key figure in the development of 20th century graphic design. He emmigrated to Paris from Russia and it was there that he first established himself as a graphic designer. He moved to New York in 1930 and took over the job that would turn him into a legend: Art Director for Harper's Bazaar magazine. The is the work he did in Paris in the 1920s is slowly coming to prominence. The work he did for the restaurant Prunier (see Swann Modernist Poster sale #1970, lot 25), the department store Les Trois Quartiers, and Cunard (see the Chassaing Collection, Swann Auction # 1978, lot 2) is well documented. Yet Art Deco gems which emerged from the "Atelier A.B." are beginning to surface, and each new image proves how active and successful Brodovitch was during those years. One poster Brodovitch designed for Donnet is already known, depicting a car driving through the hills on the Riviera coast. This image, of a couple eyeing a car through a showroom window reflects Brodovitch's elegance and style. Of particular note is how the artist handles the light and shadows, specifically the geometric kaleidoscope of lights above the car, and the delicate outline surrounding the couple.
