Vintage poster for US Ski team tryouts will be complimented by other vintage winter sports posters in New York previews. Photos from auctioneer Swann Galleries, in New York.

If you have a chance to visit New York next week, two rare Olympic works are being offered at auction. You can attend the preview for free. The auction itself takes place February 4 at 1:30 p.m. Previews are this Saturday from 10 to 4 and Monday to Wednesday from 10 to 6. Both are at Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, Tel. 212-254-4710.  Read story below.

The first is a downhill ski competition poster (above right) announcing Olympic tryouts. It has some interesting similarities to other important sports posters from the 1930’s -- sleek streamlined design, unsigned by the artist, and made with a plate that was used with different color inks to publicize different events with different text boxes. The approach is very similar to the “stock posters” used by large movie studios during the same era.

The second poster (above left) features original artwork by Amy Jones depicting a ski jumper for Lake Placid's 1980 Winter Olympics. Beyond the striking design, it is newsworthy both because posters designed by female graphic artists are rarely available and this is the first time that posters from the 1980’s are surpassing the thousand dollar benchmark. Posters from the 1972 Summer Games in Munich are still widely available for a few hundred dollars.

While only a few works in the collection on view have an Olympic connection, they can provide you with interesting perspectives. John Murdoch, director of the European Galleries at the Huntington Library, recommends this kind of opportunity to learn about the entire context of an art collection. In addition, this is one of the first times the online exhibition is being shown in 3D.

You can learn more about these opportunities by reading my series from earlier this month, Olympic Art for All.

Below: These Olympic posters from a 2005 exhibition illustrate more of the important context of Olympic art. The 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics (right) marked a major change to art featuring the style and official colors of the host country. Earlier Olympic events reflected the classical style of Olympia, Greece, home of the ancient Olympic Games. Photo by Max Donner at International Poster Museum NY.