?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 20,000
VARIOUS ARTISTS LES MAITRES DE L'AFFICHE. Five volumes, incomplete. Each approximately 151/2x111/4 inches. Chaix, Paris. Condition varies, generally A. Unbound. Printed by the Chaix publishing house as a concession to the growing craze of poster collecting at the end of the 19th century, the Maitres de l'Affiche (Masters of the Poster) were small format reproductions of what were, ostensibly, the best and most famous posters from around Europe and America as selected by the famous critic (and poster supporter) Roger Marx. There are 256 images in the series, and each of the plates is a full color lithograph printed on high quality paper; they were issued to subscribers on a monthly basis, in groups of four. Intended to reflect the pillars within the pantheon of poster design in their Golden Age, the Maitres were actually biased towards the French. A full one quarter of the plates were posters by Jules Cheret, and half of all the plates were French. This set is missing the following plates: 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 54, 82, 95, 110, 122, 134, 144, 219 and 238. And there are duplicates of plates 49, 50, 51 and 52.
