As we all know, snow can be your friend or foe, depending on whether you are a ten-year-old hoping for an unexpected day off school or the parent desperate to make sure lessons go ahead.
For me though, when I looked out of the window on Monday to see the season’s first fall, despite the difficulties even a few inches of the stuff can cause in getting things and people to and from our Fernhurst saleroom, the beauty of the landscape was enhanced further by the effect this type of weather has had on the collectables and the auction market. From snowshoes and skates to early skiwear, sporting specialists can plough a furrow in this fairly narrow collecting field, but the area that interests me is the one that has a much wider appeal: ski posters.
Christie’s pioneered these sales from 1982 and have built a healthy following of wealthy collectors looking to decorate their ski chalets or homes. Now others have joined the fray, realising that these fabulous pieces of art appeal well beyond the traditional collecting fraternity.
Resorts – Gstaad, Davos, St Moritz – artists, subject matter, condition and age can all have an impact on values. The colour, dynamism and graphic quality of these pieces make them burst with life, and prices for the best now reach well into five figures. Still, compared with other markets, that is pretty affordable.
