Robert Bereny’s poster for Modiano cigarettes, $13,000 (£10,250) at Sapphire Auction Gallery.
The full-size 4ft 1in x 3ft 4in (1.25m x 94cm), Budapest printing of Robert Bereny’s poster for Modiano cigarettes was estimated at $100-200 on January 13 in Newark, Delaware, but hammered for $13,000 (£10,250) to a buyer using LiveAuctioneers.
Modiano’s campaign to capture the tobacco market in Hungary was famously successful.
It was the brainchild of Sokrates Stavropulos, a Greek art connoisseur who was head of advertising for the Hungarian subsidiary of the Italian firm. From 1924-30 he helped Modiano secure a market share of 80%.
Blanketing the entire country with striking posters by avant garde artists was key to pushing the brand, with Bereny’s 1929 design featuring the diagonal image of a dandy sporting top hat, monocle and cigarette, the most memorable.
Admired then and now well beyond eastern Europe, the image was chosen as the rear cover illustration to The Art Deco Poster by William Crouse (2013).
Period pointer
There are many modern printings of this poster but the example at Sapphire, now backed on linen and in decent condition, had the identification points of a period lithograph.
They seldom appear on the market, although in 2015 Christie’s sold another of the same size with the condition grade B for £30,000.
