May 08, 2006 - Sale 2079

Sale 2079 - Lot 17

Price Realized: $ 4,600
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
LUDWIG HOHLWEIN (1874-1949) TERRANOVA. 1909.
34 3/8x23 3/8 inches.
Condition B+: creases and minor repaired tears in margins; overpainting in margins and image; sharp vertical fold.
Looking at these seagulls flying over a barren landscape, one could easily think that it is a tourist poster for Terranova. However, despite conventional wisdom, this is not the case. Curiously, or perhaps luckily, Hohlwein designed another poster with this title that bears additional text identifying it as a brand of shoe polish! While this image remains a mystery (was the polish made out of animal fat?), we must assume that at the time, Terranova was sufficiently known that potential clients needed only to see its name in advertising for a poster to be effective. Graphically it is Hohlwein at his best. DFP III 1358, Frenzel 28.