Lot 294
Buster Keaton / L’Opérateur. ca. 1928.
Sold
$14,400
Place Bid
Lot 294
Buster Keaton / L’Opérateur. ca. 1928.
Estimate:
$7,000
- $9,000
Sold
$14,400
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Est.
$7,000
- $9,000
Live Auction
PAI-LXXXVI: Rare Posters
Live Bidding began Mar 20, 2022 at 11:00 AM EDT
ARTIST
JEAN A. MERCIER (1899-1995)
Description
Artist: JEAN A. MERCIER (1899-1995)
Size: 45 x 60 1/4 in./114.3 x 153 cm
Condition: B+/ Slight tears at folds.
Printer: Imp. de la Cinématographie Française, Paris
Reference: Ref: Portraiture, p. 66
Key Words: Art Deco; Film
Buster Keaton / L’Opérateur. ca. 1928.
“Film comedian Buster Keaton is both behind the camera and in the spotlight in this image, made... at a time when Keaton claimed his silent movies actually did a bigger business in Europe than in America. This poster for ‘The Cameraman’ attracts attention with brilliant colors and clever geometric stylization of forms. But it also advertises the latest film by incorporating two of the actor’s trademarks: the deadpan, expressionless face and a lively chase scene pitting the agile human figure against relentless mechanical forces. The latter is suggested by a circle of sketches expressing speed and motion in a never-ending contest. In Keaton’s movies, James Agee wrote in his 1949 appraisal of silent film comics, ‘it seems that the whole universe is in exquisite flying motion and the one point of repose is [Keaton’s] effortless, uninterested face’” (Portraiture, p. 67). Rare!
Size: 45 x 60 1/4 in./114.3 x 153 cm
Condition: B+/ Slight tears at folds.
Printer: Imp. de la Cinématographie Française, Paris
Reference: Ref: Portraiture, p. 66
Key Words: Art Deco; Film
Buster Keaton / L’Opérateur. ca. 1928.
“Film comedian Buster Keaton is both behind the camera and in the spotlight in this image, made... at a time when Keaton claimed his silent movies actually did a bigger business in Europe than in America. This poster for ‘The Cameraman’ attracts attention with brilliant colors and clever geometric stylization of forms. But it also advertises the latest film by incorporating two of the actor’s trademarks: the deadpan, expressionless face and a lively chase scene pitting the agile human figure against relentless mechanical forces. The latter is suggested by a circle of sketches expressing speed and motion in a never-ending contest. In Keaton’s movies, James Agee wrote in his 1949 appraisal of silent film comics, ‘it seems that the whole universe is in exquisite flying motion and the one point of repose is [Keaton’s] effortless, uninterested face’” (Portraiture, p. 67). Rare!
