For the many keen skiers who make an annual pilgrimage to the Alps in the winter months this season promises to be something of a disappointment. Relatively few will be travelling to the slopes while travel restrictions continue. However, one way to get something of the skiing ‘hit’ in the New Year is to peruse The Ski Sale that was held with our Contemporary & Post-War Art auction on 27th January.
The sale featured a fine selection of original lithographed posters focused on winter sports and travel curated by former Christie’s vintage poster specialists Nicolette Tomkinson and Sophie Churcher. The pair first teamed up with us to launch dedicated poster sales in 2018.
The sale featured a group of ski posters of resorts in Switzerland as well as others from France, Austria and Norway - all of them in colourfulness and striking designs redolent of the eras for which they were made.
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Werner Weiskönig (1907-82) is famous for his dynamic posters for sports events and ski resorts in Switzerland - his distinctly Art Deco 1936 image Davos Parsenn achieved £2,750 incl premium - while an arresting view of Toggenburg by Hans Looser (1897-1984) from 1952 sold for £2,000 incl premium.
The 1948 image promoting the merits of post-war St Moritz by Franco Barberis (1905-1992) beat its high estimate, selling for £2,375 incl premium. The Italian-Swiss artist first worked as a graphic designer for the shoe brand Bally before becoming freelance illustrator and cartoonist for Swiss newspapers and numerous children’s books.
All the gear and no idea when it might be used again? A vintage ski poster may be just the tonic.