?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
E.H. CYCLES G. RICHARD. 49 1/2 x 36 inches. Condition B+: restoration and overpainting along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired tear through top left hand corner and at edges. When Georges Richard opened up a new show room in the XVII arrondisement (an area already filled with bicycle dealerships) this was the first poster he commissioned. It was early enough in his company's existence that it predates their four-leaf clover logo. It is a classic illustration of an elegant cyclist, holding a Chinese lantern to illuminate the road in front of her as she makes her way back to Paris from a day's outing in the Fontainebleau Forest. Note the two feathers on top of the woman's hat, an allegorical reference to Mercury, both the God of trade and the God of travelers. This image also appeared in a smaller format as an advertisement within the pages of Le Rire magazine.
