May 21, 2009 - Sale 2181

Sale 2181 - Lot 60

Price Realized: $ 1,800
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
JEAN WALTHER (1910-?) ESSOLUBE. 1935.
37x28 1/2 inches, 94x72 cm. Kuhn & Zoon, Rotterdam.
Condition B+ / A-: creases in margins and image; restoration in corners. Framed.
Swiss-born Jean Walther moved to Paris and worked at Aliance Graphique, where he was strongly influenced by A.M. Cassandre. In 1932 he moved to Holland, and became a prodigious designer for the Royal Dutch Steamship Company, as well as engaging in other advertising projects. He moved to America in 1939. Here, in the vein of Cassandre, Loupot and even Fix-Masseau, Walther has devised a recognizable cubist mascot for the Esso Oil Company. In each of these Art Deco images the message is understandable, regardless of the language of the text: Esso Oil works great for your car in the freezing winter or in the hot summer.