?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
HENRY VAN DE VELDE (1863-1957)
TROPON. 1898.
14¼x10½ inches, 36x26½ cm. Condition A / A-: time-staining in margins; archival tape on verso from binding, along left edge. Paper. Matted.
What appears to be a wonderful abstract Art Nouveau design is in fact a "practical" advertisement for a very mundane product and a turning point in graphic design. In 1897, Tropon produced a meat substitute which was made of egg whites and other nutritional supplements. With this poster, Van de Velde "effectively initiated a new art: the total industrial graphic design" (Word & Image p. 17). He "created a logo in the modern sense of the term, abandoning all realism and the whole classic arsenal of advertising (the woman, the child, etc.) of the period" (Weill p. 63). The company used the image consistently in advertising and packaging to build a recognizable brand. In addition to the poster (which many have interpreted to represent the egg whites being separated), the image also appeared in Pan magazine. Published in Berlin between 1895 and 1900, the periodical printed original lithographs by prominent artists, such as Toulouse Lautrec. From Pan magazine, this is the smaller format, German version. From an edition of 1100.
Wember 777b (var), Word & Image p. 39, Weill 98, Rademacher p. 68 (var), Modern Poster p. 19, DFP-II 1134, Muller-Brockmann 49 (var).
