?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000
MAX PONTY (1904-1972) RADIOLA. 1928. 61 1/2x45 1/4 inches. Hachard & Cie. Condition B+: overpainting in top right image and margins; repaired tears and creases in margins and image; vertical and horizontal folds. Framed. Max Ponty trained for seven years in the Draeger printing studio. By the mid twenties he had left and was designing posters under his own name. He worked for big clients like Peugeot (see Swann Modernist Poster Auction # 2006, lot 49), the Paquet Navigation Company, and for the travel and tourism industries. For all of his work, however, he is best remembered for his award-winning design for the packaging of Gitannes cigarettes, which has remained unchanged since he won in 1947. This poster for a brand of radio is absolutely remarkable. The brand name itself is literally broadcast against a rich, cloudy sky, and the bright lettering suggests the clarity of sound the radio itself can achieve. The photography of the broadcasting tower and the sky have been retouched with color for extra effect, while the image of the tower reflects the strength, technology and modernity of the broadcasting industry. Very few designers in France used photography in their work during these years. Extremely rare.
