?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
D'APRÈS JEAN A. MERCIER (1899-1995) FOIRE INTERNATIONALE DE MARSEILLE. Circa 1927. 30 1/4x23 inches, 76 3/4x58 1/2 cm. Les Affiches Lutétia, Paris. Condition B+: restored losses, repaired tears and restoration in margins; minor creases and abrasions in margins and image. Jean Mercier was born into the Cointreau family. He studied at the Beaux Arts school in Angers and at the École des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. His first commission was for his family's liquor business, but he was quickly recognized for his talent and received work designing product and film posters. His personal style entails elegant flat tones, air brush and bold typography. Marseille, as this poster points out, was the port with key access to the Mediterranean market and the French colonies. In this strong, eye-catching composition, Mercier emphasizes the importance of the port via a dominating image of a liner's funnel. The port itself is indicated, not only through the text, but also in the background, where the artist depicts one of the monuments of the city: the cathedral of Notre Dame de la Garde. An earlier version of this poster (see sale 2113-118) also depicts the "pont transbordeur" (the Eiffel Tower of Marseille, which no longer exists) on the other side of the funnel, with varying text and detailing in the image.
