The art of skiing

Arabella Mileham reviews the Christie's vintage ski poster auction. 

The annual ski sale at Christie’s South Kensington yesterday was a steady, if lacklustre affair. Perhaps it was just bad luck, being the thirteen annual auction of vintage ski posters, but whereas previous sale have seen bidders scrambling for the top lots, this year’s sale totalled just under the £500k mark, with only 70 per cent sold by lot. That's nearly £300k less than the total sale made at the sale's height in 2008.

Traditional favourites proved to be the safest bet, with rarity again realising the highest prices. The top lot of the day was an anonymous 1913 poster of Gstaad's Royal Hotel & Winter Palace (£22,000 including buyers premium), while the visually arresting cover lot, a 1931 poster of Zermatt by Pierre Kramer, came in at £15,000. The stark graphics showing a shadowy ski-jumper set against the Matterhorn had elicited to a lot of interest on the phones. 

 © Christie’s Images Limited 2009

Elsewhere, Emil Cardinaux's domination seemed to have slipped a little to make way for Olympic fever. Two of the top five portrayed the Olympic rings - Gordon Witold's 1932 Lake Placid poster and the 1928 poster by Hugo Laubi, II Olympische Winterspiele at St Mortiz - although ironically, both posters hark from an era before downhill skiing was included as an Olympic sport. 

Since its inception in 1997, the Christie’s Ski Sale has enjoyed steady growth year-on-year with prices far exceeding estimates on some of the top lots. An anonymous 1925 poster of Wengen was the favourite two years in a row, increasing from £16,800 in 2006 to £22,800 only a year later. The most staggering result however came in 2008, when an anonymous Russian poster of 1952, originally estimated at £600 - £800, became a tug-of-war between two bidders and achieved a new record of £36,500.

However, it seems that prices have returned to a more sustainable level and estimates have been very firmly ‘recalibrated’ this year. With the Russian market talking a palpable hit at the onset of the recession, the presale estimate on the same image was a meagre £1,500 - £2,000 which actually proved a little on the generous side. Despite such a gloomy prognosis though, the middle market remained fairly steady and it is still possible to pick up a bargain.

Christie's Olympic fundraiser

With the Winter Olympics only weeks away, a charity auction held at Christie’s South Kensington last night helped raise £18,000 towards Team GB’s costs in Whistler. Organised by Snowsport GB and ASK4 Events, the evening was to highlight the work put in by our Olympic Squad as well as to raise funds to support their training and costs. Members of the Olympic teams past and present mingled with snowsport enthusiasts and art aficionados against a backdrop of fabulous vintage ski posters, which will be auctioned next week in the annual Christie's Ski Sale.

There's no denying that Team GB would benefit hugely from an injection of cash, after a summer of financial turmoil for its governing body, Snowsport GB. So with great gusto, Hugh Edmeads, Christie’s Head of International Auctioneering, set about whipping up bids from the assembled throng. However, the party atmosphere seemed to get a tad uncontained and there was furious shushing from strategically placed Christie’s staff at the back of the room.

There are now less than three weeks to go before the Winter Olympics start in Vancouver and the athletes are firmly concentrating on those few moments that will determine whether they earn their place on the podium.