?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
RICHARD HARDMEYER (1876-1919)
WASCHANSTALT ZÜRICH. Circa 1905.
24x13¾ inches, 61x35 cm. Wolfensberger, Zurich. Condition B+ / B: loss at lower right and upper left corners; minor tears, creases and abrasions at edges; tear repaired with archival tape at top left margin, slightly into image; creases in image. Paper.
Hardmeyer died from the Spanish Flu epidemic that swept Europe in 1919. Before his untimely death he might have enjoyed a little of the success generated by this poster. Originally printed in 1904, as a mono card, it is considered today the first modern Swiss poster. Hardmeyer brought the concept and design of the dandified rooster to advertise this laundry service to Wolfensberger who added the black and yellow background. Ten years later the company wanted another one and Wolfensberger printed the same image with slight alterations (the proportions of the black and yellow background were changed, the length of his shirt shortened and the rooster was placed within a border which contained the text). The image was acclaimed in the pages of Das Plakat magazine in 1914 and remains the logo of the company today. This is the smaller format.
Margadant p. 231, Plakat Schweiz p. 231, Affiches Suisse p. 1, Weill p.121, Plakate Alter Zeit p. 19, MoMA 156.1988 (all var).
