Nicholas Lowry, president of Swann Galleries, told Playbill.com that performing arts posters and Broadway show art aren't a large part of the business in his office, though occasionally theatre, dance and opera posters appear in Swann auctions, snagging the interest of collectors and fans.
"These are the only Broadway show posters in the sale, and the only we've ever had," Lowry said.
Those interested can participate in the sale in person or online, or can follow it live on eBay.
This year's sale at the Manhattan gallery features a wide selection of U.S. and international ski posters (timed for winter, just as the summer sale is known for beach and surf-resort posters), but fans of Broadway can bid on the following, as seen in the Swann catalog:
56x40-1/2 inches. Condition A-: vertical folds; wooden dowels affixed to top and bottom margins. Two sheets. Weimar decadence in red, pink, blue, orange, purple and yellow advertising the first run of the play that was to become a Broadway and Hollywood classic; lettering in orange and black. This is the image that also graced the original cast album cover. Estimate $600-900.
81x40-1/4 inches. Artcraft Lithograph and Printing Company. Condition A-: vertical and horizontal folds; wooden dowels affixed to top and bottom margins. Two sheets. In blue red, green and white, a Chagall-esque image against a bright yellow background. Advertising the Broadway premiere of the musical based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem. Estimate $600-900. Swann Auction Galleries is at 104 E. 24th Street. For more information, call (212) 254-4710.
For more information, or to view the complete catalog, visit swanngalleries.com.
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Tom Morrow died in 1995, after creating indelible, whimsical illustrations for the original productions of Broadway shows from the 1950s to the 1980s. His work was seen in print ads, on sheet music, in Playbills, on cast album covers and on posters.
Among the images he created were the lovesick cupid for She Loves Me; the Chagall-inspired Russian peasant world of Fiddler on the Roof; the dungareed Lucille Ball, leaning on oil gushers, for Wildcat; the svelte, derbied Gwen Verdon caricature of Redhead; and, his final work, the grimy vaudeville billboard signs of Grind.
Morrow also created show art for Auntie Mame, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Candide, Take Her, She's Mine and Norman Mailer's The Deer Park.
