|It is obviously impossible to state accurately the price of the
artistic poster, insomuch as fluctuations take place almost daily,
and, moreover, the numerous dealers vary in their quotations in an
extraordinary degree. Under these circumstances, the present chapter is
written as a matter of current record, rather than with the idea that
it will be of any permanent value for purposes of reference. It may
be stated at the outset, that in dealing with the value of the poster,
rarity has in the first place to be taken into consideration; and thus
it happens that, while delightfully artistic designs are comparatively
inexpensive, posters which are quite unattractive from the point of view
of art are often very costly. The prices which follow are for the most
part taken from the catalogues of M. Edmond Sagot of Paris, and Mr.
Bella of London, the latter of whom, by the organization of exhibitions
and in other ways, has rendered material assistance to English
collectors. In fact, to some extent, he has called the English collector
into existence.
As an example of the price of the poster of which the interest is
archaeological rather than artistic, one may instance a placard, dated
the 20th of February, 1649, which deals with the opening and closing of
the gates of Paris. Its only claim to be considered pictorial consists
in the fact that it is ornamented with a woodcut representing the arms
of the city. Many similar productions were executed in relation to
London and to other English towns. The price asked for it three or four
years ago was thirty francs. Interesting from another point of view are
the illustrated posters which have heralded new books, or new editions
of books, by great writers. Three of these, relating to the works of
Balzac, and including one with woodcuts by Meissonier and Tony johannot,
are valued at twelve francs.
It is time, however, to pass from pictorial posters, which are
interesting on account of age or literary association, to those which
derive their value from their qualities as works of art. In this class
some of the highest prices are obtained by the French artists who, for
the most part, were the contemporaries, or immediate successors, of
Gavarni. The best posters of this master are extremely difficult to
procure, and examples in a fine state realize large sums.
For the "Oeuvres Choisis" bill, together with that designed to advertise
an illustrated edition of Balzac's "Philosophie de la Vie Conjugale,"
something over a hundred francs is asked, while less important works can
be obtained for five-and-twenty or thirty francs. It goes without saying
that the smallest tear or other injury, however neatly and skilfully
repaired, heavily discounts the value of works by Gavarni and the men of
his time; but even slightly damaged examples are eagerly sought for, as
it is almost impossible to obtain perfect ones. Of the productions of
Edouard de Beaumont, two of the rarest are the "Nains Celebres," already
mentioned, and the "Diable Amoureux." For an exceptionally fine proof
of the former, as much as a hundred francs has been asked, while the
latter, which is very rare, commands about sixty francs. Sums scarcely
less formidable are given for the better posters of Grandville, and
fifty francs for a good Tony Johannot is not by any means an exceptional
price, although unimportant specimens of his work may be picked up in
Paris for a few sous. The excursions of Gustave Dore into the art of the
poster were very few. His most important work was perhaps the "Legende
du Juif Errant," a fine proof of which realizes sixty francs or more.
Posters by Vivant Beauce, Castelli, Cham, Victor Coindre, Charles
Devrits, H. Emy, A. Farcy, and others of the same period, for the most
part command sums comparatively small; the best productions of Bertall,
Calame, Monnier, and C. Nanteuil, on the other hand, are only a
little less expensive than those of Gavarni and the more distinguished
designers of his time.
Of posters by designers still living, those of Cheret have been most
assiduously collected. It is probable that a complete set of his works
does not exist; even one which is fairly representative, and includes
some of his earlier and rarer _affiches_, is extremely valuable. In the
Sagot catalogue of 1891, over five hundred and fifty posters by Cheret
are described, and of these no less than eighty are priced at twenty
francs or more. Since the publication of the catalogue, their value
has steadily increased, and it is uncertain if many of them can now be
procured at all. The collector of modest means need not, however, regret
that the older and rarer examples of Cheret are beyond his reach, for
the artist's more recent posters are the best that he has accomplished.
For a comparatively small outlay, one may secure the flower of Cheret's
work. Amongst the most valuable of his posters are two, of very large
size, designed to advertise some Arabs who appeared with the Paris
Hippodrome when it visited London in 1887. The price asked for them
is over two pounds. They seem to have escaped the attention of French
collectors from the fact that they were posted exclusively in London.
The set of four
[Illustration: 0386]
Loie Fuller bills, in all of which the design is the same but the
colouring different, is worth between thirty and forty shillings.
These designs are among the most daring and characteristic specimens
of Cheret's amazing colour, and as they only measure forty-nine by
thirty-three inches, they are of manageable size, and should find
their way into the portfolio of every collector. The set of unlettered
decorative panels which were described in an earlier part of the book,
is at present sold by all dealers for five pounds. It goes without
saying that proofs before letters, or prints on special paper, of the
posters of Cheret, or of nearly any other artist, are much more valuable
than ordinary copies.
Most of, the posters of other living French artists may still be
procured for a few shillings, but it is extremely improbable that such
a state of things will long continue to be the case. Already examples by
men of the modern school, such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Anquetin, Bonnard,
Steinlen, and Ibels, are in great demand, and collectors should use the
present opportunity to procure a series of these curiously interesting
designs before the prices rise. Even now, Lautrec's first attempt,
"Le Pendu," has become _rarissime_, and is valued at something over a
sovereign. What has happened in this case will doubtless happen in the
case of "La Reine de Joie,"
"Jane Avril," and Lautrec's other posters. The designs of Grasset
are rapidly taking their place by the side of those of Cheret in the
estimation of collectors, with the result that several of them command
large prices. Thus the "Librairie Romantique," which was offered in 1891
for three francs, was priced by the same dealer in November, 1894, at
twenty. What is going on in the case of Cheret, Grasset, and Lautrec, is
going on, though it may be somewhat less rapidly, in the case of
those other artists who have assisted to make the French _affiche_ the
charming and artistic thing it is.
The posters of those artists who were the pioneers of the artistic
poster movement in England are extremely rare. They worked in the days
before the English collector existed, and any copies of their designs
not actually posted, probably fell into the hands of the waste-paper
dealer. I have been unable to trace any copies of the advertisement done
by Fred Walker for "The Woman in White," but the original design has
been recently exhibited in London, and the price put upon it by its
owners is seventy guineas. Copies of Mr. Walter Crane's "Hippodrome"
bill are extremely rare, as are those designed by Professor Herkomer for
the "Magazine of Art," "Black and White," and the exhibition of his own
works. Turning to the younger men, it is interesting to note that Mr.
Dudley Hardy's "Yellow Girl" sells in Paris for twenty francs, the large
"Gaiety Girl" for half as much, and the smaller bills for the same play
for five francs. The first poster which this artist did for "St. Paul's"
is very difficult to meet with; it will doubtless be among the most
valuable of Mr. Hardy's designs. Mr. Beardsley's "Avenue" poster is
quoted neither by Mr. Bella nor M. Sagot, and it may therefore be
concluded that it is almost impossible to obtain it. The other posters
of this designer are steadily increasing in value, and are
eagerly sought for by collectors on both sides of the Channel. Mr.
Greiffenhagen's "Pall Mall" poster, which has met with much success
abroad, is worth about half a sovereign. The dainty little bill which
Mr. Wilson Steer did for the exhibition of his paintings at the Goupil
Gallery fetches about the same amount, and is rapidly becoming scarce.
It is pleasant to think that the early efforts of English artists are
welcomed by French collectors as enthusiastically as the masterpieces of
French artists by collectors in England.
The poster is obviously difficult to collect, because of its size.
Not all of us are proprietors of such an immensity as the Chicago
Exhibition. Most of us, on the other hand, could paper a room with
posters of Lautrec alone. Everybody, however, can put the smaller bills
into a portfolio, while the larger ones may be mounted as ordinary
school maps. The collecting of pictorial posters needs nothing more than
a little heroism.
In the foregoing chapters, I have attempted to outline the history of
art as applied to the poster, and to give an account of the pictorial
placard in the present state of its development. The number of names,
eminent in the history of various modern arts and crafts, who have
applied themselves to the production of the pictorial poster seems to
me to justify the publication of this book. The fact that men so highly
endowed as Cheret and Lautrec deliberately choose to appeal to the
public chiefly by means of the _affiche_, well knowing that their
gallery is the common hoarding, places the illustrated poster outside
the bounds of ridicule. A modern art critic of high repute and of
enormous energy has assured us that, in these days, to neglect the
poster is mere folly on the part of those who care for the application
of taste and skill to the objects of everyday life. We are apt to talk
of artistic periods; periods when the most ordinary objects had an
aesthetic character of their own. It seems to me to be full of promise
for the future that the hoarding should be among the first necessities
of modern civilization to be rendered charming by the skill and
imagination of the artist. Art is generally supposed to be inimical
to commerce, and commerce inimical to art, yet here we have the two
combining to the advantage of both, and succeeding in making the
beautiful an incident of the necessary.
[Illustration: 0391]