?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
OTIS SHEPARD (1894-1969)
CATALINA. 1938.
39 1/4x51 inches, 99 1/2x129 1/2 cm. Condition A-: minor repaired tears at edges; creases and abrasions in margins and along unobtrusive vertical fold.
A bright and sunny view of a promenade on Catalina Island. Located only 22 miles away from Los Angeles, the island's Mexican roots are very apparent. The life of Otis Shepard was one long, successful exercise in modern advertising, beginning his career with the Foster and Kleiser Outdoor Advertising Company from 1917-1930. He ran the "first, full-scale outdoor poster art department, and became the Chief Creative Director for the entire F&K organization" (Strauss p. 68). By 1932, Shepard had moved to New York City and made his first posters for Wrigley's gum; he served the company exclusively for the next 30 years. His work "seduced the public with beautiful imagery; the pictures never seemed tired, never suffered from repetition, yet were comfortably continuous in each theme" (Strauss p. 74). In this image, inspired by British Rail travel posters, the figures are wearing uniforms designed by Dorothy Shepard, and the Sombrero fountain was designed by Otis. Catalina's entire graphic identity was designed by the Shepards, including signage, typeface, costumes, architecture and more. Shep pps 150-1, Southern California 11.
