The movie poster has always been an important marketing tool, but now Bonhams and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are treating it as a work of art. The “Picture Perfect: the Art of Movie Posters” sale will feature more than 200 vintage movie posters, pieces of original poster art, and lobby art from key periods of cinema history. The sale will take place on July 20 in Los Angeles.The auction, hosted by Bonhams and TCM, will be led by an extremely rare poster from the Mark Sandrich-directed musical comedy “Top Hat,” (1935) part of the Golden Age of cinema from 1929-1950 and estimated at $30,000-40,000. Also from the same period are the “one sheets” for “This Gun for Hire” (1942) and “Sunset Blvd.,” (1950), both garnering estimates of between $12,000 and 18,000. Some of the earliest examples of movie posters in the sale will include a banner for “The Birth of a Nation” (1915, estimate: $3,000-5,000), a one sheet for the 1917 film “The Life of Buffalo Bill” (estimate: $3,000-5,000), and a pair of lobby cards for the first American adaptation of “Sherlock Holmes” by Albert Parker from 1922 (estimate: $700-900; $1,000-1,500).Further highlights will include a number of posters from famous designers who distinguished themselves with iconic and beloved images. One such designer was Al Hirschfeld, who illustrated posters for several Marx Brothers’ films including “A Night at the Opera” (1935). A jumbo window card of the film, estimated at $5,000-7,000, will be featured. William Rose’s cherished poster for “Cat People” (1942, a one sheet estimated at $10,000-15,000) will also be on offer along with two works from Reynold Brown’s “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954, a one sheet estimated at $8,000-12,000) and “Imitation of Life” (1959, estimate: $6,000-8,000).International movie posters will be a subject of the sale including several post-war Italian posters by the three godfathers of Italian poster art: Alfredo Capitani, Anselmo Ballester, and Luigi Martinati. Auction goers will delight in Capitani’s rendering of Rita Hayworth as “Gilda” (1946, estimate: $20,000-30,000), Ballester’s “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947, estimate: $20,000-30,000), and Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960, estimate: $10,000-12,000; $20,000-30,000).Select posters from the 1960s onwards include “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968, Starchild style 30x40, estimate: $2,000-3,000), “Star Wars” (1977, British quad, estimate: $1,500-2,000), and “Jaws” (1975, one sheet, estimate; $500-700). A Bob Peak painting for “Apocalypse Now” (1979, estimate: $7,000-9,000) and a preliminary painting for “Star Wars” by Dan Goozee (estimate: $8,000-12,000) round out the sale’s key highlights.Eager bidders and cinema buffs alike can view highlights at Bonhams New York June 13-16 with the full exhibition of works at Bonhams Los Angeles from July 16-19.
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