Every so often a collection of  vintage Hollywood art work turns up at auction. This time it’s a wonderful collection of original film posters from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, on sale at Ewbank’s Auctions in Woking, Surrey.   http://www.ewbankauctions.co.uk

These posters were designed and printed by the Bradford based W. E. Berry Ltd. who were in business for 75 years up until 2004. The posters are owned by the Berry family.

The company were one of only three companies  in the U.K. who hand-painted and printed large cinema posters. They produced designs for Columbia, Paramount, Universal, Rank and Disney.

(They also did poster artwork for travel, circuses and the theatre.)

Many different agency artists produced the poster artwork, but, as was the practice, they rarely got the credit for their work.

150 online bidders are expected at the auction on 28 February,2020.

Here are some examples of the beautiful posters. The starting prices average £100, with the most expensive estimate being only £250. I expect they will sell for a lot more, even though some are showing signs of wear and tear – small wonder after all these years!

A pity the collection has to be split up, or, who knows, maybe it will remain intact! They deserve to be in a museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the largest poster at 18” by 24”.

 

 

This is a group of 9 posters , going for £200-£400.