May 18, 2023 - Sale 2637

Sale 2637 - Lot 159

Price Realized: $ 3,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

ERIK NITSCHE (1908-1998)

GENERAL DYNAMICS / HYDRODYNAMICS. 1955.


50x35 1/4 inches, 127x89 1/2 cm. R. Marsens, Lausanne.
Condition A-: small loss at upper right corner; minor tears, creases and abrasions at edges; minor creases in image. Paper.

Perhaps the most famous image in the series, this depicts the USS Nautilus, one of the country's first nuclear powered submarines. "It was an indelible logo in its day. Set against a gradated gray background, the shell was a virtual cornucopia of progress. The submarine was not seen as a killing machine, but rather the offspring of progress poised to help the world" (https://www.typotheque.com/articles/erik_nitsche_the_reluctant_modernist). It should be noted that the ongoing project to construct the Nautilus was so top secret that Nitsche was only provided a basic idea of what the submarine would ultimately look like. This is the French language poster from the initial Atoms for Peace series. Dynamic America p. 349 (var), Encylopedie de l'Affiche p. 104, Modern American 83, MoMA 221.1956.