For the past 14 years, spring officially has arrived in upstate New York when Michael Fallen of Copake Auction Inc. drops the hammer on the annual Antique & Classic Bicycle Auction.
     At about that same time of year, in New York City, people like Harvey Kopel, a 60-year-old video editor, rolls his bike out of an apartment decorated with more than 100 cycling posters and wedges it into an elevator designed to hold seven people. On his 50-block ride to work (about 2 1/2 Big Apple miles) he will jockey with taxis and trucks for a slice of the road.
     An hour north, in Westport, Conn., the main cycling action takes place on weekends. That's when Mickey Ross, a vintage poster dealer and owner of The Ross Group, sees the bright yellows and greens of lyrca-clad athletes streak by his shop window on diamond frame speed machines, ready to take on the challenging hills of Fairfield County.
     These three men — auctioneer, collector, dealer — each with a different eye on cycling and cycling collectibles, are the tip of a collecting category that is picking up enthusiasts with every turn of the wheel. Although bicycling collectibles span everything from antique high--wheelers to recent Olympic one-offs, parts and posters, this article focuses on the wealth of images the sport has inspired since the invention of the pneumatic tire in 1889 made it a fashionable pastime. In the decade before the turn of the century, hiking was considered a necessary social skill, one that required proper dress — knickerbockers, Norfolk jacket, and for the ladies, a petite chapeau.
     The mere mention of such delightful words conjures up the very images of romance and grace that artists have contrived to deliver.
     The reason for the current surge in popularity of cycling posters, Ross said, is because "Bicycling is something enthusiasts relate to easily. From a residential standpoint, in homes with young children, bicycles are appropriate images."
     Kopel's collection is a prime example of what can happen when a collector finds a theme and expands on it. His eclectic mix of prints, photographs, posters, and whimsy, accumulated over 20 years, is peppered with a few rare treasures like a Currier and Ives print, a Wyeth, and a complete set of Players cigarette cards.
     The visuals range from Art Nouveau drawings of beautiful women seemingly airborne on their bikes to modern still lives of bicycles and baguettes. There is the joy of a misty morning seen from the seat of a two-wheeler, the caprice of a monkey balancing on a bike, the vaudeville antics of Laurel and Hardy double heading. All of this just goes to show that when it comes to capturing the rush of freedom a good bike ride offers, there are as many visions as there are riders.
    For collectors interested in mining original images, the world of vintage posters abounds with cycling art.As Ross explained, entry level originals start at $300 and go up from there. Rarity, image, condition, and artist impact value. Higher-priced posters tend to bear the signatures of Cheret, Mucha, PAL, and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others.

Antique graphic art

  Vintage posters, which came into collectors' consciousness in the 1970s, are the surviving remains of the 19th-century fascination with lithography, the first inexpensive way to mass produce printed material. As the category emerged, collectors focused on the works of artists in France, where the genre was born.
     Prior to 1 860, posters contained only type. Then Jules Cheret (1860-1942), a Romanian-born artist in Paris, created a process of three-stone lithography that allowed for multicolor printing. A new medium was born.
    Printmaking became the rage of artists. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec once proclaimed, "The poster, that's all there is!" Posters, however, were not considered fine art. They were advertising art, printed by the hundreds or thousands, hung on walls, viewed by everyone, rained on, pasted over, and left to disintegrate.
     Although many of the stirring images on posters were designed to lure customers to nightclubs, cycling posters became strong contenders for the attention of consumers when bicycle makers discovered that the sport was threatened by such radical inventions as the aeroplane and automobile. Singer, Hurnber, Peugeot, Gladiator — manufacturers of bicycles and bicycle parts — desperately sought to hold onto their market share with lavish posters proclaiming the glories of bike riding.

In the second of the series, PAL shows a brave, similarly attired but with feathered headdress and head held high. His arms are casually akimbo. As he rides in the tradition of "Look, Ma, no hands," he coasts gracefully between two rows of kneeling Caucasian Americans.

The market today

     As the market for vintage cycling posters has matured, collectors have embraced the schools of art from other countries. Poster art is one area in which collectors have easily accepted trends as varied as Modernism, German Expressionism, and Russian Constructivism.
     Yet the question begs to be answered: If vintage posters were used for advertising and plastered on all available surfaces, how did so many come to survive? Ross gives this explanation: The popularity of posters inspired people to cut them down, often while still wet, and keep them. Also, printers' samples have been found when buildings are cleared for renovation or razing. In some instances, the commissioning company or the manufacturer's family held onto a quantity for corporate or sentimental reasons. In addition, artists discovered they could sign and sell a limited number of posters to collectors who could not afford paintings. Consequently, sourcing posters is not unlike locating other forms of antiques. Ross has a dedicated, international network of spotters. He makes frequent buying trips to Europe, and specializes in European posters.
     Michael Fallon, who said the market for bicycle memorabilia has remained steady for several years, has seen posters go for much as $28,000. He contends that is not the norm. In April 2004 at the 14th Annual Antique & Classic Bicycle Auction, he sold a piece of advertising art that was truly indicative of what a weary cyclist wants. It was a pre-war English pub sign that says, "Caution to Cyclists. It is Dangerous to Proceed Any Further without Refreshment and Rest. Both Within. Samuel Reeves 13 Caledonian Rd., Kings Cross, London."
In excellent condition, the 24 3/4-inch-by-20-inch pewter sign fetched $375. Though the buyer is unknown, the sign would have made the perfect addition to Kopel's collection of memorabilia.

June 29, 2005 • ©ANTIQUE TRADER

Reproduced with permission from the publishers.