May 10, 2004 - Sale 2006

Sale 2006 - Lot 19

Price Realized: $ 13,800
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
MERCEDES. 1914.
43x31 inches.
Condition A-: vertical and horizontal folds; minor discoloration in top and bottom margins; tape on verso. Paper.
In this poster we clearly see the transition of Hohlwein's style to the standard it would take for most of his posters produced after the First World War. The image is more illustrative than graphic, and is depicted in light pastel tones, giving the work the feel of a watercolor. The scene appears to be at an air show and Hohlwein employs a descriptive style to capture all of the details: two fashionable couples with their driver in a magnificent Mercedes, with a Wright Brothers-style plane flying above. (Curiously one detail is absent: the car's headlights!) Hohlwein designed another poster for Mercedes after the war, equally as elegant and stylized. DFP-III 1478, Auto Posters p. 25.