Aug 07, 2002 - Sale 1941

Sale 1941 - Lot 40

Price Realized: $ 6,440
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
CHARLES RAMBERT GRANDE SEMAINE D'AVIATION / ROUEN. 1910.
51x35 1/2 inches. Girieud, Rouen.
Condition B: expertly restored loss in upper right corner; restoration and overpainting in margins; light horizontal and vertical folds.
A mere 7 years after the Wright Brothers took to the air, "a rash of aviation meetings broke out in the spring of 1910 in places as diverse as Saint Petersburg, Vienna, Budapest, Bournemouth, Boston, Lanark and New York City" (Villard / Allen p. 57), and Rouen. "The beauty, originality, and sly humor of the artist's design [make this poster] a memorable work of art. Flying past the spires of the cathedral, then under repair, the pilot of a sprightly though improbable-looking monoplane cheerfully salutes two ecclesistical statues in a niche who throw up their hands in amazement at the miracle of human flight" (Villard / Allen p. 59). In a curious instance of life imitating art, one of the more memorable moments of the event was Leon Morane, who "caused a sensation by flying around the venerable cathedral in the heart of the city" (ibid). Villard / Allen pl. 37.