May 21, 2009 - Sale 2181

Sale 2181 - Lot 47

Price Realized: $ 4,080
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
GIOVANNI GUERRINI (1887-1972) II ÈME EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS / MILAN / MONZA. 1925.
27 1/4x19 1/4 inches, 69x49 cm. N. Moneta, Milan.
Condition B+: repaired tears, creases and abrasions in margins and image; restored losses and restoration at edges; sharp vertical and horizontal folds.
Although named after the 1925 French Exhibition, Art Deco as a style was developing all across Europe. This rare exposition poster, by the Italian architect and designer Giovanni Guerrini, experiments with a Neoclassical Art Deco style that peaked in the 1925 expositions in Europe. Here, Guerrini depicts neoclassical motifs, such as gazelles and a graceful Grecian-like female nude, combined with highly stylized geometric and natural forms. Besides the clear Grecian influence, Guerrini also draws on Egyptian motifs, such as lotus flowers and scarabs, and employs a 'gilded' gold ink, which entered into public use following the sensational discovery of the Tomb of Tutankanhum in 1922. Bolaffi, 111.