?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 20,000
JEAN CARLU (1900-1997) AQUARIUM DE MONACO. 1926. 39x27 3/4 inches. Robert Lang, Paris. Condition B+: trimmed to edges. Hand signed in pencil. Matted and framed. An aquatic vision from the depths of the ocean that is a true masterpiece of design and lithography. In a hyper-stylized form, Carlu superimposes the shapes of a scorpion fish, a sun fish and an eel, to promote the new aquarium in Monaco. What makes this poster unique is the richness and sophistication of the inking and the different shades of color. Carlu recalled during an interview with Alain Weill that the lithographers at Robert Lang's printing plant finally gave Carlu his own lithographic stone so he could do extra work to achieve the effects he wanted. When Carlu returned to France after his stay in the United States during World War II, this is one of the very few posters that he found remaining in his studio which had been plundered during the war. This must have been one of the very first copies pulled off the presses, with the best and richest inking possible. That is why Carlu inscribed the piece "epreuve d'artist" (artist's proof). It is a true museum piece. Carlu 12, Weill 353.
