apibridal.blogg.se

These movies tapped into the fears and societal unrest between the World Wars, using Hollywood magic to transport audiences to fantastical worlds where good fought evil. Universal set the template for horror as we know it with a trio of films: The Mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula. As silent movies gave way to ‘talkies’, horror films employed all the latest technological innovations to craft movies that shocked and provoked. This period, known as the ‘Golden Age of Horror,’ ushered in a new genre of cinema and approach to marketing movies. After setting the auction record at Sotheby’s in 1997, the present example was included in the 1999 exhibition ‘The American Century: Art and Culture 1900-2000’ at the Whitney Museum of American Art.Īmong collectors, the posters for horror films of the 1930s are revered as the most desirable of all. Given the ephemeral nature of posters from this era - most were pasted over or discarded after a film’s run - The Mummy poster on offer is incredibly rare: it is one of only three examples known to exist and remains in its original, unbacked state. Depicting Boris Karloff in the title role that cemented his place as a film icon, and Zita Johann, the subject of his mummy’s desire, the poster was exclusively created for theaters’ promotional purposes and never made available to the public. Sotheby’s will exhibit the work in their New York galleries from 14 - 18 October.ĭesigned by Karoly Grosz, Universal’s advertising art director, the poster is an early representation of the aesthetics that continue to influence poster design to this day: vivid, painterly splashes of color, a dynamic composition, and minimal white space.

The Mummy reemerges at Sotheby’s this month with an estimate of $1/1.5 million, which would once again earn it record status.

The present poster last sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1997 for $453,500 - at the time marking a world auction record for a single film poster, a title it held until 2014.

Bidding is now open and will close on Halloween, 31 October. A seminal example of the graphic design pioneered by Hollywood studios during their ‘Golden Age of Horror’, this stone lithograph will be offered in a single-lot, online-only auction this month. New York-Sotheby’s presents the opportunity to acquire one of the rarest and most highly-coveted film posters in existence: an original 1932 film poster for the horror classic The Mummy starring Boris Karloff.