NEW YORK CITY – The 84th rare posters auction from Poster Auctions International on July 20 featured a large roster of masterpieces and rarities from a century of poster design. Included in the collection were Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modern and contemporary works suited to a variety of interests and styles. Once again, bidders showed love for the Belle Époque’s Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939), who capitalized on the beauty of lithography. Nineteen of his most sumptuous works crossed the block, with perennial favorite “The Stars,” 1902, leading the group and the sale as well, finishing at $120,000, including buyer’s premium. Often referred to as “Moon and The Stars,” it was painted by the Czech designer and artist and produced as a color lithograph decorative panel comprising four portrait orientation panels in the French Art Nouveau style. Mucha expressed his attraction to higher ideals by personifying the stars as beautiful women, seen left to right in the illustration as the Moon, the Evening Star, the North Star and the Morning Star. A total of 500 lots of rare and iconic posters crossed the block in this sale, and we’ll include a more extensive review in an upcoming issue.