Continental Hobo

$1,850.00

This poster is an original first printing, not a reproduction.

In a previously-seen design for Continental car tires, master humorist and famed poster artist Mich rolled out this hobo and his panting mongrel sidekick to show it didn’t even matter if your vehicle had a motor as long as it rode atop Continentals. In this advertisement for their bicycle pneumatics, the vagabond’s atop a unicycle as his pooch struggles to keep up. Why a unicycle? Because if you only need one tire, you’d better make it Continental, the brand guaranteed for one whole year. In 1907, Continental, a German manufacturer with distribution throughout Europe, approached Mich for a campaign. “‘Clearly influenced by Michelin’s Bibendum, Continental wanted to create its own trade character. That year, three major posters appeared . . . all using an English clown’ . . . a bit of a tramp, warm and sympathetic, [who] also appeared in ads for shoe heels . . . Even today, it’s amazing that a tramp was used to advertise a product of a certain standing”. Mich’s main clients were the bicycle and auto industries at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and in the 1912 Salon des Humoristes, he exhibited fifty sporting designs. His drawings also filled the pages of La Vie Parisienne, L’Auto and L’Echo de Paris. We have not seen this poster available in the market for more than a decade. Rare!

This poster has been archivally and professionally linen backed. Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on very thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve and protect vintage posters so they can be displayed or framed without compromising value.

Year: c.1919

Artist: MICH (Michel Liebeaux, 1881-1923)

Size: 59 x 78 cm (23.2 x 30.7 inches)

Condition:   Linen-backed

Printer: Daudé Frères, Paris

This is a one of a kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

In stock

SKU: Continental - Batch 1 Category:

Description

Vintage posters are the original form of advertising. These posters, made to advertise products, were never intended to last; they were hung outdoors, rained on, and eventually torn down or covered up. The early process of stone lithography created beautiful images, but quantities were small; generally, only 2,000 to 3,000 were printed. The examples that have survived are those that were not displayed; they are the extras that didn’t get used.

By the 1950s, posters were being printed using processes much more technologically advanced than labor-intensive stone lithography. Modern Era Posters are crisp, vibrant, and capture the riders at the perfect moment in time. Official race posters have bold color schemes that jump off the wall. From its roots in the second half of the 1800s, contemporary posters continue to tell the ever-evolving story of cycling.

***********************

This is a one of a kind item, please review the photos carefully to determine condition.

Additional information

Weight 3 lbs