Davos poster ‘Bobsleigh’ – Emil Cardinaux – 1918

Swiss Davos poster – Emil Cardinaux

It’s really not difficult to see why travel and skiing posters by the Swiss artist Emile Cardinaux are among the most highly regarded and sought after. Emile Cardinaux’s Swiss-themed artwork often captures the thrill of travel and winter sports in stunning detail. A perfect example is this stunning Davos poster advertising the winter sports resort. Cardinaux’s superb painting captures the moment a 4-man bobsleigh speeds down the luge past a group of onlooking skiers. The buildings and church spire of Davos town and the Alpine mountains behind can be seen in the background. It’s a great piece of art.

The historic and current popularity of the famous Davos ski resort ensures that original ski posters from the early 1900s still command high prices. When the ski travel poster is also created by the more popular artists such as Emil Cardinaux prices can soon rise into record-breaking figures.

Highly sought after Davos posters

Over the past couple of decades, vintage skiing posters have become much sought-after amongst poster collectors and sports aficionados and visitors to the many ski resorts across the world. It is, however, the posters from an era when skiing was a sport exclusive to the wealthy and well-to-do. It’s the posters from the older, more famous ski resorts such as St Moritz, Chamonix, Klosters, Gstaad, and Davos that tend to command the highest prices.

Emil Cardinaux is considered to be one of Switzerland’s most important poster artists. In fact, it is Cardinaux’s 1908  Zermatt poster that is said to have begun the modernist era of Swiss poster design. Original copies of this fabulous Davos lithographic poster featuring the four-man bob team were printed by Wolfsberg in Zürich. They are now extremely rare and highly sought-after. In good condition, original copies of this iconic Davos poster sell for in excess of £25,000.

Davos

The Alpine town of Davos has been hailed as a popular tourist destination since the mid-19th Century. Initially, Davos was a mountain health resort frequented by the rich and wealthy, advised by physicians that the climate of the high valley had extensive health benefits. It was, however, as a paradise for active holiday seekers in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries and the introduction of a number of international winter port championships hosted in Davos that made the region famous.

According to the Luxury Travel Guide website “Almost overnight, Davos became a dazzling ski resort that was especially popular with the British and the Dutch elite. Today Davos stands as one of Switzerland’s largest ski resorts. The town is surrounded by five exquisite ski areas; Schatzalp, Parsenn, Pischa, Jakobshorn and Rinerhorn.

Downhill and cross country skiing areas include Jakobshorn Valley, Pischa Cross Country Sports Centre Rinerhorn – all within 50 minutes from Zurich by train. Summer activities include swimming and sailing on Lake Davos, hiking and mountain biking. The Glacier Express, a scenic train ride, connects Davos to the Matterhorn. The popular ski resort town now hosts the annual World Economic Forum conference attended by the world’s leading political, business and cultural figures.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.