Nov 18, 2009 - Sale 2196

Sale 2196 - Lot 35

Price Realized: $ 4,560
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
DESIGNER UNKNOWN THE NORTH CHINA RAILWAY CO. Circa 1940.
40 1/4x28 3/4 inches, 102x73 cm.
Condition B / B+: restored losses in corners and image; repaired tears, creases and overpainting in margins and image.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), the Japanese government set up several puppet states within China. The Wang Jingwei Regime was based in central and northern China with its capitol at Nanking (present day Beijing). To aid their occupation, and with the help of the Japanese civilian authority working in conjunction with the Japanese army, the North China Railway was founded. It was basically an extension of the Japanese rail system in place in Manchuria and Korea. This entrancing image is a nocturnal, Chinese ode to the great Western Art Deco posters, and specifically the art of A. M. Cassandre. Here, an evening star and distant whiff of smoke romantically capture the concept of "north" and "railroad." The tracks are shown running North along the Yellow Sea, over a map of China, converging in the distance near Nanking.