Poster Auctions

(Event Posters, Movie Posters, Advertising Posters, & More)

We sold 4 volumes of the 5 volumes of Les Maitres de L’Affiche at our August 2016 auction, bringing in over $20,000.

Posters can be tricky for you to evaluate. There are posters for every occasion: advertising, movies, sports, concerts, events, art, and more. Often it’s unclear or unknown how many were produced, how many have survived in good shape, who the avid collectors are, and even who can auction them (are they considered “art” or “memorabilia” or something else?).

Central Mass Auctions has experience in selling posters at auction for maximum return.

Below are some photos of posters brought to us by an antiques dealer on the night of an auction. The dealer wanted to get $200 for them and for a few others (not pictured), which was what an appraiser at another auction house told her they were worth. We advertised them in our next auction, where we sold the lot for $15,000.

What kinds of posters are the most sought-after?

Posters are fine art collectibles. Collectors usually look for posters from the 1880s to the 1930s printed with stone lithography, which requires designers to hand paint colors onto a slab of porous stone before transferring the design to the paper.

This resulted in vibrant, gorgeous posters that far surpassed the mass-produced postures of today.

Posters created with the offset lithography method from the 1930s to the 1960s may also be quite valuable.

Other posters can be valuable if they’re extremely rare, if they were created by a famous artist, or if they celebrate certain famous movies, places, or events.

What makes posters valuable?

Posters are more valuable when:

They come from famous or established artists.
The subject of the poster is in high demand (it can change with collector trends).
The number of surviving posters.
As with most collectibles, the condition of the poster matters.
If applicable, the conservation or restoration method is used.
The texture of the paper. Pulp is sought after.

Like many collectibles, posters may be graded. They receive a grade from A to D, with A being a poster that’s in pristine condition. A poster with rips, stains, or faded lines will generally receive a lower grade.

Notable poster auction results

Recently, the 1927 original international Metropolis film poster sold at auction for $690,000. The next most famous auction result was the 1891 Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Moulin Rouge poster, which sold for $412,450.71.