Vintage Movie Posters by Nick Malkoutzis
Many of us would admit to putting up pictures of Che Guevara and Bob Marley during our student days but there are some posters you wouldn't even think about going near with a lump of blue-tac.
see photographs
You might be surprised to know London has become the world capital for the trade in vintage film posters and lobby cards and that these valuable pieces of movie memorabilia can fetch up to £5,000.
The West End boasts two of the world's finest movie poster galleries so MyVillage popped down to find out all about this roaring trade. Tim Maddison runs the Movie Poster Art Gallery, which has been tucked away off Oxford Street for five years and explains how this trade has developed. He says: "The film industry has produced advertising material since day one but it wasn't until the late sixties that people started to think of them as an art form or something enjoyable and interesting in its own right."
Roy and Sally Sims run Vertigo Galleries which has been in Covent Garden for two years. Vertigo has had a gallery in Covent Garden for 7 years but only in its present site for three years. Roy has been in the trade for seven years and says: "When I started it was just collectors that were buying but now people are buying just because they like it." Although this growing interest is a relatively new phenomenon, fuelled by people's pure love for all things cinematic, some posters are more admired than others.
Tim says: "In recent years, as younger generations discover this stuff exists, classic posters from the sixties and seventies have become more popular."
However, some posters are wanted for their artistic value such as the work of Saul Bass who designed posters for films like Vertigo and Anatomy of a Murder. Similarly, it's not always the US or UK version of a poster that people look for. Designs from countries like France, Italy, Spain or Poland are often more attractive and sought after. But on the whole, it's a transparent and accessible art form which helps make it so popular. As Tim explains: "It can be popular anywhere people like watching movies. It doesn't involve learning a language of gobbledygook in the way that contemporary art does. It doesn't need to disguise itself with rubbish, the posters are simply what they are."
Sometimes they're also simply expensive but Tim, who has a background in antiques, says the trade in vintage movie posters is similar to buying and selling old china: "It's like any other part of the antiques trade and price is dictated by rarity, condition and desirability."
There is an element of 'you get what you pay for' to it as well. Roy explains: "All our goods are genuine and not re-productions. They're not pin up posters. Vintage posters have been made to be used and in some cases may show signs of that but re-prints will never have the same quality."
With galleries springing up all the time, internet sites and auction houses all offering vintage movie posters for sale, the choice can be a bit daunting. Tim says: "The key thing is to ask questions. If somebody's asking £1,500 for a poster, ask them politely why and if the reasons don't chime then leave it alone." In fact, it's easy to be put off by four figure prices but don't despair, there are cheaper alternatives. Roy says: "Our prices start from £35 so that people can start getting into it. We try and maintain a store as much as a gallery so that people won't be intimidated either by the surroundings or prices."
Vertigo Galleries
22 Wellington Street
London
WC2E 7DD
www.vertigogalleries.com
The Movie Poster Art Gallery
1 Colville Place
London
W1T 2BG
www.mpag.co.uk |
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