?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
MELCHIOR LECHTER (1865-1937) GROSSE BERLINER KUNSTAUSSTELLUNG. Circa 1897. 27x18 inches, 69x46 cm. Otto v. Holten, Berlin. Condition B+ / A-: minor repaired tears and restoration in margins; creases in margins and image. Like most artists of his generation Melchior Lechter worked in all the different fields of decorative arts. He specialized in painting on glass but also worked in the field of graphic arts, designing books, bookplates, calendars and posters. As one can see from this poster announcing an exhibition of Berlin artists, he was strongly influenced by the work of William Morris. The image has incredible importance as the first pure Art Nouveau image published in Germany, and it represents a turning point in German graphic design. It was designed one year before the founding of the Secession and is the only image from the era we have seen that does not reflect any Hellenistic influences, but rather strongly bears the imprint of William Morris and Eugene Grasset. DFP III 1960, Kunst, Kommerz, Visionen p. 46.
