“An artist has no home, except in Paris.”
– Nietzsche
Pianos Daude 1924-1975. Click on the image to learn more.
Good things certainly do come in pairs! Founded in 1924 by Andre Daude, the Pianos Daude Company builds, sells, and teaches piano in Paris to this day. Andre Daude (1897-1979) purchased his very first piano with his stipend from serving in the French army in World War One. When his neighbor offered to purchase it from him, a venture was born. Much like The Ross Art Group’s owner Mickey Ross, Andre Daude turned his hobby and passion into a thriving business.
Mr. Daude decided in 1924 that he would create a poster, the most popular form of advertising in Paris, to promote the opening of his very first retail location. Employing the popular Art Deco style of the day, Daude drew up the poster himself. He wisely chose a dramatic diagonal birds eye view of a piano player (himself), with a small view of the Arc de Triomphe and side view of his spectacular pianos in the top right of the poster, and all pertinent information added to the bottom. This excellent example of stone lithography is highly sought after for its dramatic composition and scarcity in the marketplace. Moreover, the original we have in our collection features the rare deep red that collectors search for, as opposed to the faded and lighter red that is found more frequently. Pianos Daude was an immediate success in Paris, and thrived in its location.
Pianos Daude was such a success, that in 1975 Andre Daude decided to move to a larger location just down the street at 75 Avenue de Wagram. He turned yet again to poster art as a means to advertise the move. This time, the designing of the poster was much more of a simpler process; he simply reused his popular design and switched out the text on the bottom to have the correct address! By 1975 a new, less expensive printing process called offset lithography had been developed and it is in this method that this round of posters was printed. Much more common, but equally eye-catching, this 1975 edition is a wonderfully affordable way to obtain the look and feel of Art Deco poster art.
