Largest Collection of Tennis Posters by Roger Borders, Edward Penfield, Hans Rudi Erdt & More Offered by Swann Auction Galleries

The upcoming Tennis & Sports Posters sale by Swann Auction Galleries will offer a collection from the Schwartz family and Tennis Corporation of America. The sale opens with a poster of The Monte-Carlo Country Club by Roger Borders (French, 1883 – 1953). The poster, titled Monte•Carlo, was printed in 1930. The poster depicts the audience’s viewpoint of the tennis court overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The Monte-Carlo Country Club has twenty-one tennis courts overlooking the water. Its inauguration event in 1928 was attended by members of European royal families. Borders emphasizes the glamorous members of the club and its exquisite setting to create one of his best-known posters. His handling of shadows and the bright Riviera sun is masterful, crowned by the slivers of yellow sunlight that silhouette some of the figures. 

Another notable poster in the sale is the Western Lawn Tennis Tournament poster by Edward Penfield (1866 – 1925) of the Kenwood Country Club in Maryland. The Kenwood Country Club was founded in 1894 by Marshall Field, the department store magnate. The club opened just one year later on a 20-acre plot of land comprising 12 courts, both clay and lawn. In 1896, it hosted the prominent eight-day-long National Tennis Tournament. Printed in 1896, this is one of Penfield’s most impressive posters depicting fashion, architecture, perspective, and sport.  It is likely the first American tennis poster promoting a tournament. The sale will also offer the largest collection of tennis posters ever to hit the market, in addition to works by Alfred Runge, Eduard Stiefel, Leon Dupin, Hans Rudi Erdt, and Frank Newbould. View the complete catalog and register to bid in the Tennis & Sports Posters: Collection of the Schwartz Family & Tennis Corporation of America sale by visiting Swann Auction Galleries.