May 08, 2006 - Sale 2079

Sale 2079 - Lot 48

Price Realized: $ 3,910
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
JEAN CARLU (1900-1997) LUI TOUJOURS...DUBONNET. 1924.
35 3/4x62 inches. Daude Freres, Paris.
Condition B+: restored loss in lower right corner and margin, affecting image.
This lot and the following image, represent some of Carlu's earliest poster work. Like most young French graphic designers during this time he was greatly influenced by Cappiello. In these early years as he tries to find his own, personal artistic style, the promise of his talent is visceral. Here, the old man and the younger woman are both smiling, sitting in a café in front of a bottle of Dubonnet. The colors of their clothing vividly stands out against the blue background. The images have a maturity of style and composition, and are a very high graphic quality compared to many other French advertising posters of the early 20s, and yet Carlu was only 24 years old when he designed them. Unreferenced in the catalogue of his work published by the Musee de l'Affiche, they are extremely early works by the artist and quite rare.