A. Birck Sold at Auction Prices

Fetes de Ghezireh. 1896.

ARTIST: A. BIRCK SIZE: 44 1/2 x 56 3/4 in./113 x 144.2 cm PRINTER: Courmont Freres, Paris DESCRIPTION: A Pharaonic procession, headdresses and tunics and sphinxes and incense aloft, provides endless fascination and delight in this astonishing poster for the Wagons-Lits package-tour company. Using a similar composition of thronged masses that H. Gray used for the Bal Masque posters at the Opera Garnier, A. Birck creates a jam-packed ode to the Fear of Missing Out at the Ghezireh. What's the Ghezireh, you ask? It's the Ghezireh Palace, originally opened in 1869 as a guesthouse for dignitaries traveling for the grand opening of the Suez Canal. In 1894, it became a grand hotel operated by the Compagnie International des Grands Hôtels – and began throwing these kinds of fêtes for French Egyptophiles trekking in the footsteps of Napoleon. (Event; Art Nouveau; Travel)