Nov. 11, 2008 With the current financial crisis still looming large in the minds of buyers, many auction houses have come to consider themselves lucky if 25-35% of their lots are sold. This was not the case this past Sunday at Poster Auctions International, Inc., where the sale, comprised of over 500 lots of rare, vintage posters, reached a remarkable 44%, for a total of $1,300,000. While not the record-breaking totals of the last two auctions held at Poster Auctions International, this solid result proves that even in troubled times “the people’s art” is a strong investment. That said, this auction of over 500 lots of rare vintage posters was still far from ordinary. Of particular interest were two larger-than-life-sized posters featuring the boxers Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries. Estimated at a modest $1500-$2000, the pair attracted the largest number of bidders, reaching an unforeseen total of $10,925. Also sparking a enthusiastic response from the public was Alphonse Mucha’s rarely-seen poster for Heidsieck Chmpagne, selling for an impressive $63,250. The same price was met by A.M. Cassandre’s poster for Miniwatt/Philips Radio, far exceeding the predicted estimate. Another surprise emerged from the Books and Periodicals section of the auction, where a complete set of Les Maitres de l’Affiche sold for $43,700. What do all of these results mean, you may ask? Jack Rennert, founder and president of Poster Auctions International, I believe sums it up best: “Global markets may lack confidence in asset values, but poster collectors are fully confident in the value of their posters.”
