An auction of horror and sci-fi film posters, including a large private collection, is expected to get rave reviews from buyers, writes Joe Armstrong.
Rare horror film posters will go under the hammer next week, led by a Belgian baron's collection of more than 3,500 posters, which are expected to realise in excess of £100,000 sterling (€164,000).
Estimates in the Christie's London sale next Tuesday, March 5th, range from £200 to £20,000.
The father of Belgian vendor Baron Alexandre de Groote began his film poster collection in 1935, when he received his first poster from a cinema proprietor. His huge collection specialises in horror and science-fiction movies.
"My father began his collection partly because he became struck with this fantasy factory that is the cinema. His preference for the sci-fi genre as well as terror and fantasy was due to the fact that it explored graphically the parameters of a possible future, as well as the natural highs you might get seeing scary movies," said Baron de Groote.
Christie's holds the European auction record for vintage film posters, having sold a standard US one-sheet for The Mummy (1932), for £80,750 in March 2001. Five years earlier, in March 1996, The Invisible Ray (1936), a US one-sheet, sold for £23,100 at the same auction house. The standard US one-sheet is 41 inches high and 27 inches wide.
A Belgian poster for The Mummy, estimated at £10,000-£15,000, is a highlight of the sale. Ms Sarah Hodgson, associate director and head of the popular entertainment department at Christie's, told The Irish Times it would be still more valuable had it been the US version.
Irish cinemas censored some British film posters. For instance, Ms Hodgson has seen a poster for the James Bond movie Dr No with the midriff of the bikini-clad women manually painted in, thereby reducing the appeal and value of such posters today from about £1,500 to some £500.
"All sorts of people collect film posters - die-hard collectors and quite young people in their 30s, many of whom prefer them to buying paintings," she said.
A US half-sheet for The Invisible Ray, is expected to fetch £6,000 to £9,000. Another rare item is a US one-sheet for Dr X (1932), estimated at £5,000 to £7,000, which has never before appeared at auction. Dr X, the first film to use two-strip technicolor (the precursor to modern colour), was directed by Michael Curtiz, who directed Casablanca in 1942. A poster for the 1939 sequel The Return of Doctor X, featuring Humphrey Bogart before he was catapulted to stardom, is estimated at £500 to £700.
A poster for Flash Gordon (1936) is a highlight of the auction. An American one-sheet, it is expected to fetch up to £30,000.
Meanwhile, a poster for Hearts of Dixie (1929), the first all-black, all-singing and all-talking musical to be made into a movie, in its first appearance at auction, is estimated at between £10,000 and £15,000.
The Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute's advanced fine arts course starts on Tuesday, March 19th. Comprising evening lectures over nine weeks at the IAVI headquarters - 38, Merrion Square, Dublin - it is aimed at collectors and art enthusiasts.
Lecturers include Brian Coyle, James O'Halloran, Douglas Bennett and Denis Drum. The course fee is €220.
For further details, contact the IAVI. Telephone: 01-6611794.
jmarms@irish-times.ie
