?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
CLARENCE COLES PHILLIPS (1880-1927) LIGHT CONSUMES COAL. Circa 1918. 28x20 1/2 inches, 71x52 cm. Edwards & Deutsch Litho Co. Chicago. Condtiion B+: losses in left corners; water staining in image and text; tears at edges; creases in margins and image. Paper. In what is perhaps the most "artistic" of the American World War I posters, Phillips unites the bold, direct elements of German object posters by artists such as Lucien Bernhard with the intricate swirls and patterns of American Art Nouveau in the style of William Bradley. Interestingly, while it may echo the work of European artists (specifically a 1907 image by Peter Behrens featuring a light bulb), the poster represents a drastic divergence from Phillips' usual style. He was nationally known for his "fadeaway girls," which graced the covers of LIFE magazine from 1908 onward. These images featured attractive young women whose clothing was the same color as the background, forcing the viewers to complete the image with their imagination. Rawls p. 20, Modern American 28, Darracott p. 36, Theofiles 79.
