THE DANCE OF DEATH. 1919.
ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEF FENNEKER (1895-1956)
54 1/2x41 inches, 138 1/2x104 cm.
Condition B+: restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; minor restoration in margins.
Fenneker designed over three hundred movie posters. His recognizable style drew largely on German Expressionism combined with a flair of aesthetic decadence. Written by Fritz Lang, Totentanz is considered by The Internet Movie Database to be a "lost film [in which] a beautiful dancer's sexual allure is used by an evil cripple to entice men to their deaths. Falling in love with one of the potential victims, she is told by the cripple that he will set her free if her lover, actually a murderer himself, survives and escapes a bizarre labyrinthe which runs beneath the cripple's house" (www.imdb.com). Even without a signature, this poster is clearly the work of Fenneker. Although another image by Fenneker for this film exists, this particular version is previously unrecorded.
Estimate $2,000-3,000

"The Dance of Death" is one of many beautiful posters you will find in the upcoming modernist poster sale at Swann Galleries Auction House. You can find out more about the sale--which begins at 1:30 PM on May 3--and view the other lots by clicking here. Another favorite modernist poster recently blogged about here will also be available at the auction.

Via Random Index. Click on image to see larger version.