Puerto Rican Posters, ca. 1955
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GUEST:
There was a fire in a house in New York, and they were throwing things out. And so they were a dumpster dive.
APPRAISER:
They were a dumpster dive.
GUEST:
Yeah. With permission, with permission. They just looked vibrant, and I had to have them. I've been doing research on them for a long time, trying to find out who the artists were for the posters, and I've found some of them, but I could never find a value because they're in museums, the ones that I've been able to identify.
APPRAISER:
These are posters from Puerto Rico, and all of them are done via the silkscreen process. And I think what you have here is a who's who roster of some of the great Puerto Rican artists from the 1950s. Now, which of the artists have you been able to identify?
GUEST:
Rivera, Madalgo, and... There are others, but I can't think of their names right now.
APPRAISER:
Here we have a Tufiño...
GUEST:
Oh, there you go.
APPRAISER:
We have a Rivera, we have a Lorenzo Homar.
GUEST:
That's one.
APPRAISER:
These are really artists who helped create the Puerto Rican poster movement in the 1950s. And these posters advertise a variety of different things. Some are advertising movies, some are advertising reading, others are advertising shows. It is sort of a window into the cultural life of Puerto Rico in the 1950s. The one in the top center is certainly one of my favorites. The artist is Carlos Rivera, and it's advertising a movie, and I think just the vibrancy of it and the excitement of it all combine to make a really exceptional image. I've separated these six by order of importance, and I think the three on the top are better than the three on the bottom, but only by a little bit.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
I would estimate the three pieces on the top, the Homar, the Rivera, and the Tufiño...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Each of them, I would estimate between $800 and $1,200.
GUEST:
Really? Wow.
APPRAISER:
And the three posters that we have on the bottom, which I think are good but just not quite as good, I would estimate them at between $700 and $1,000 each.
GUEST:
Very nice. Wow, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Now, if you do the math, which I did before, I cannot tell a lie, the total estimate is $4,500 to $6,600 just for these six.
GUEST:
Okay, all right, great-- that's good news.
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