?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
HENRY VAN DE VELDE (1863-1957) TROPON. 1898. 20x12 1/4 inches, 50 1/2x31 1/2 cm. Pan. Condition B+: repaired tear and restoration in image. Numbered in pencil "12." 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 on 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 in appeared in Pan magazine. Printed in Berlin between 1895 and 1900, the periodical printed original lithographs by prominent artists, such as Toulouse Lautrec. In certain cases these lithographs were issued as supplements, in deluxe format, numbered and limited to editions of 100, with the Pan blind stamp. This rare supplement is smaller than the poster, and also bears the German text. Wember 777b, Word & Image p. 39 (var), Weill p. 98 (var), Rademacher p. 68 (var), Modern Poster p. 19 (var), DFP II 1134 (var).
