Original Poster Design for “The Echo”
The Echo.
[Chicago: [1895].
Price: $18,500.00
About the item
Original pencil, watercolor-and-gouache poster design on card, signed (“Will H. Bradley”) at lower left. 8 x 5-1/2 in. Original Poster Design for “The Echo”. Tipped to board, gilt matted and framed, entire piece measures 13 x 16 in. Literature: Bambage, p. 158.
Item #260460
A stunning original poster design by William H. Bradley (1868–1962), the foremost American Art Nouveau designer of his time, known for his advertising posters and book and magazine illustrations. “The Echo,” a “humorous and artistic fortnightly” was advertised as “Chicago's new paper — in which will appear a series of colored frontispieces by Will H. Bradley.” It began publication on May 1, 1895 and ceased with vol. 4, no. 3, July 1897. "Bradley was well acquainted with the stylistic innovations of his European counterparts. Like many French artists, he borrowed stylistic elements from Japanese prints, working in flat, broad color planes and cropped forms. He appropriated the whiplash curves of the Art Nouveau movement so dominant in Europe at the turn of the century and was influenced by the work of the English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley" (willbradley.com)
With an original lithograph poster advertisement for “The Echo” based on Bradley’s drawing (21 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.). A superb example of Bradley's artistry, handsomely framed. Despite his prolific output, Bradley’s original art is extremely rare on the market. We find no records of any of his original poster designs at auction.
