?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
EDOUARD ELZINGRE (1880-1966) CABOURG. 63x421/4 inches. P. Leménil, Seine. Condition B+: restored losses in top right corner; minor repaired tears in margins; creases and abrasions in image. Most likely the Elzingre who signed this poster was the Swiss artist who spent some time in Paris (where he exhibited circus drawings) and who in 1906, returned home to work for the printer Atar to boost their artistic creations. (see lot 3) Everyone who has read Marcel Proust knows that Cabourg was, at the turn of the century, a very elegant resort that was more conservative than its neighbor, Deauville. To advertise the Grand Hotel, Elzingre designs a strange image. The young lady in a bathing suit, the wave and the view of elegant buildings on the shore are all traditional images one might expect to see in a travel poster (in fact Pal, Privat Livemont and other famous turn of the century artists designed posters for this resort featuring many of these common elements), and bathing beauties featured in many travel posters of the era. But why does a fully-dressed, old bearded man hold her in the ocean? Is he rescuing her or is he holding on to a prized possession? Although it is an attractive image, it is not a very good advertising conceit and something that is probably best explained by ascribing it to turn-of-the-century libido.
