?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
ALFRED MAHLAU (1894-1967) NORDISCHE WOCHE LUBECK. 1921. 38x241/2 inches. H. G. Rahtgens, Lübeck. Condition B+: repaired tears and creases in margins; vertical and horizontal folds. Mahlau worked in Berlin and taught at the Landes Kunstschule in Hamburg before he settled in Lubeck. The majority of his graphic output was devoted to promoting Lubeck, North Germany and the Baltic Sea. Ironically, despite the elaborate design of his posters, he has rarely been given the recognition he deserves, except by one of the best poster designers in history. This poster was chosen by A.M. Cassandre to be included in his portfolio Publicite (see Swann Modernist Poster Auction, sale #1859, lot 16) as one of the best examples of graphic design in the world. Here Mahlau has built a sophisticated image of the elongated masts of drakkars, each topped with a different emblem. He uses two wavy blue lines to evoke the sea and partition off the exquisite typography. Publicite pl. 49, Weill 298, Zwanziger Jahre p. 25.
