Apr 24 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2702 -

Sale 2702 - Lot 43

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000

LUCIAN BERNHARD (1883-1972) & FRITZ ROSEN (1890-1980)

INTERNATIONALE AUTOMOBIL - AUSSTELLUNG. 1931.

28x37¼ inches, 71x94½ cm. Hollerbaum & Schmidt, Berlin.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears at edges; minor creases in image; slight discoloration at top edge; ink notation in bottom right corner.

In 1911, Bernhard designed a poster to advertise the Berlin Automobile Show, featuring a driver, clad in white, with goggles on his hat, gripping a large steering wheel with his gloved hands. The poster was such a classic design that it was reused and reworked for several subsequent automobile shows in the German capital, each featuring different text within the black text-box. For the 1931 exhibition, Bernhard worked with Rosen to update the image. Gone are some of the control levers from the steering wheel, as well as the driving hat and goggles, revealing the driver's full head and blonde hair. It has been noted that the "Aryanization" of the figure was representative of the changing times in Germany. Bernhard moved from Berlin to New York City in 1922, but kept his Berlin studio open. He credits the success of that operation to "my old friend, my tried and trusty colleague Fritz Rosen. I am so busily occupied with my American commissions that it is only now and then that I am able to send a sketch to Berlin . . . Rosen has been so closely identified with the development of my style . . . that is why my familiar old signature is now frequently ornamented with 'Rosen'" (Gebrauchsgraphik, February 21, 1926 p. 21).

Bernhard p. 70-1, 2nd Salon Automobile 24 (var).
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