May 18, 2023 - Sale 2637

Sale 2637 - Lot 127

Price Realized: $ 2,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

NIKLAUS STOECKLIN (1896-1982)

VALVO. 1931.


50 1/4x35 1/2 inches, 127 1/2x90 1/4 cm. W. Wassermann, Basel.
Condition B: repaired tears at edges, some into image; abrasions along sharp horizontal creasing throughout image, where previous overpainting was removed. Mounted on Japan.

After designing images in a geometric Art Deco style (Gaba, 1927) and toying with Surrealism (PKZ, 1934), Stoecklin turned towards Neue Sachlichkeit, or the New Objectivity. In this style, not only were products rendered in a hyper-realistic manner, without abstraction or interpretation, but lithographic techniques were also used at an elevated and precise level, allowing for clearer, crisper printing than ever before. One of Stoecklin's earliest examples of New Objectivity, in which he presents "ordinary, if overlooked, item[s] elevated to extraordinary status - the tetrode tube, which was used in high-frequency radios. The approach is both grandiose and humorous, and Stoecklin executes the design masterfully" (Crouse p. 61). Another text variant has no additional text below the title. Rare. Stoecklin 66, Crouse p. 80, Realismes 22, Swiss Graphic Design p. 75.