?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
EUGENE GRASSET (1841-1917) A LA PLACE CLICHY. 1891. 47 1/2x32 inches. Affiches Artistiques. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins, some affecting image. Grasset's posters can roughly be divided into two types. One includes a symbolist or allegorical image of a woman, often amidst flowers or vegetation, and those reflecting the Preraphaelite tradition drawing their inspiration from scenes and characters from the Middle Ages. Two posters of his are notable exceptions: A La Place Clichy and Chocolat Mexican. For these he uses an enlarged illustration that fits in with the exotic nature of the products being advertised. La Place Clichy was a huge department store and a major advertiser in turn-of-the-century Paris. In addition to the everyday items that the store sold and advertised with their posters, such as fashion, toys and linen, they were also renowned for their excellent selection of Oriental carpets. Grasset had previously designed the cover of a catalogue for a store called La Maison Orientale depicting a similar scene: a wealthy colonialist choosing a carpet from a bearded vendor in the heart of a Souk. Here, he revamps the image in a bolder, more graphic and colorful style. The message is clear (driven home even further by the camel in the background), that customers can get all of the quality and variety available in North Africa at La Place Clichy. Several different textual variations exist. DFP II 401, Berthon & Grasset p. 37, Maitres 18, Reims 683.
