?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
JOSEF FENNEKER (1895-1956) JOHN HAGENBECK'S. 1921. 34x23 inches, 86 1/2x58 1/2 cm. Dinse & Eckert, Berlin. Condition B+: repaired tears through margins, some affecting image; restored losses along upper edge; creases and abrasions in margins and image. Japan. John Hagenbeck was the youngest son of Carl Hagenbeck, Sr, a fishmonger. The elder Hagenbeck began collecting animals that came through the port of Hamburg and soon gave up the fish business to trade in exotic animals. In 1907, the family opened their own zoo the Tierpark Hagenbeck, which is still located in Hamburg. It is considered the first modern zoo facility: animals were displayed in a panoramic setting without cages, using hidden moats to separate different species. To further capitalize on their animal family business (they were already selling animals to circuses around the world), in 1887, the Hagenbeck family started a circus. To advertise a show of John Hagenbeck's 26 trained lions, Fenneker uses a dark background that evokes the jungle. He also plays with the scale, making the lion larger than life. This is one of the rare circus posters that does not use a kind of folk-art realism to promote the act.
