Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Cleveland\u2019s storied collection is distinguished by a key factor: He collects his materials based on the seduction and impact of their imagery, artistry and history rather than the more usual practice of building a collection around, say, an era, a genre or a movie star.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best posters in my mind are those that reduce the entire essence of a movie into a single, vivid sheet,\u201d he says. \u201cMy collection represents 125 years of film history and transcends global differences and even literacy through the deceptively simple universal language of the world\u2019s most refined film art.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Cleveland\u2019s practice of collecting works for their aesthetic power has created the most visually stunning and diverse collection of movie posters and lobby cards ever realized. Connoisseurs worldwide recognize these materials as artworks in and of themselves, separate but significant pieces of cinema\u2019s glorious history. Movies don\u2019t reach audiences in a vacuum. The sirens that pull in the crowds start with images that offer a tantalizing taste of what\u2019s in store.<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Pieces of Cleveland\u2019s famous collection \u2014 now 50 years in the making \u2014 have made their way into the permanent holdings of the Library of Congress, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, major universities in Wyoming, Texas, Illinois, New Hampshire and more, and into museums and institutions across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rob Stone, the professional film archivist now retired and formerly the Library of Congress\u2019 longtime Moving Image Curator (as well as a curator of UCLA\u2019s Film and Television Archive) has worked with Cleveland for years, and stresses the collector\u2019s generous philanthropy in the field as well as his gracious custodial role in holding such important material. \u201cHis collection is both deep and<\/em> wide,\u201d says Stone. \u201cDwight is also a film historian; he knows everything about a poster \u2014 who made it, where it comes from and why \u2014 and his impact on collecting is two-fold: He understands and shares a poster not just as an artwork but in case of history, what it attaches to. That\u2019s rare.\u201d<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Taste-makers of moving-image culture have honored Cleveland with increasing fervor; the magnificent 2019 Assouline book, Cinema on Paper<\/em><\/a>, dedicated to Cleveland\u2019s sweeping collection is introduced by forwards penned by cinema authorities Ben Mankiewicz and Steven Heller, and that same year his collection was the subject of a major museum exhibition<\/a> at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach that drew a record number of visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Courtesy Assouline<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The swell of appreciation for the art of movie posters exists in tandem with Cleveland\u2019s presence in the collecting world. \u201cThe best posters are enduring, legendary visual communications,\u201d writes Heller. \u201cThey are now psycho-cultural signifiers that provoke a range of existential and mnemonic responses \u2014 a heavy weight to put on a poster, but if it weren\u2019t true, why else would we care about them? We care about them because they are a large part of the cinema gestalt.\u201d<\/p>\n Cleveland also established the Frederica Sagor Maas Fellowship at Columbia University which supports historical research on women behind<\/em> the camera, in honor of the youngest female story editor in Hollywood history.<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cThe selection of Cleveland\u2019s collection offered by Heritage in March represents the best of the best,\u201d says Joe Maddalena, Heritage\u2019s Executive Vice President. \u201cIt\u2019s a robust cross-section of Cleveland\u2019s keenest interests, including his most remarkable domestic and international posters, and era-launching lobby cards that would have never seen the light of day were it not for Cleveland\u2019s tireless pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve circumnavigated the world hunting down rare film art,\u201d says Cleveland. \u201cMy hunt has led me into unusual situations, from tracking down a mysterious collector in Tokyo so secretive he\u2019d changed his identity, to showing up with a sledgehammer and a crowbar at the home of a former theater owner that had been slated for renovation, knowing he had insulated his walls with old film posters.\u201d<\/p>\n Heritage presents a landmark auction of more than 500 lots anchored by American and international posters for classics \u2014 the aforementioned U.S. and international rarities and stunners for Casablanca<\/em><\/a> and King Kong<\/em><\/a> along with such epics as War of the Worlds<\/em><\/a> and Lawrence of Arabia<\/em><\/a>, as well as gorgeous examples from The Blue Angel<\/em><\/a>, Cabaret<\/em><\/a>, Battleship Potemkin<\/em><\/a> and many more.\u00a0<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n One highlight is a billboard-sized, 24-sheet for the 1938 Bette Davis movie Jezebel<\/em><\/a> \u2014 an astonishing find. These gems are offered alongside arcane wonders like the striking posters for Germany\u2019s version of Luis Bu\u00f1uel’s Un Chien Andalou<\/em><\/a>, Cuba\u2019s take on Werner Herzog\u2019s Aguirre, the Wrath of God<\/em><\/a> and the Polish version of John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy<\/em><\/a> (this one created by the great Waldemar Swierzy) \u2014 all bracingly interpreted, abstracted and reduced to their movies\u2019 very essence.<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n When Cleveland describes why the international interpretations of Western movies are so fascinating and often visually arresting, he points out that, in a sense, the further from Hollywood the country or artist was, the less the imagery was decided by committee. \u201cThe foreign movie rights were often purchased by individuals in various countries, and the bureaucrats of those countries weren\u2019t knowledgeable or invested in the poster imagery. So the artists, some well-known and some anonymous, had incredible creative license and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n And collectors who seek out Hollywood\u2019s earliest materials understand the significance of Cleveland\u2019s collection. \u201cA huge percentage of advertising posters and materials for early films are gone,\u201d says Cleveland. \u201cThey were often stored in movie theater basements and attics. Those spaces were prone to flooding, to fires. Much of what I collected I never knew existed, no one knew, until they surfaced.\u201d Emblematic of Cleveland\u2019s early rare finds is this one-sheet for the 1933 Mickey Mouse outing Building a Building<\/em><\/a>, or this 1938 three-sheet for Errol Flynn\u2019s The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/em><\/a>. The size of Cleveland\u2019s collection is legendary, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cDwight Cleveland has single-handedly elevated movie posters from promotional materials to fine art, and this auction is a testament to his unparalleled vision,\u201d says Maddalena. \u201cFrom Hollywood\u2019s Golden Age to avant-garde international interpretations, his collection captures the very essence of cinema\u2019s visual storytelling. This is more than an auction \u2014 it\u2019s a rare opportunity to own pieces that have shaped film history and inspired generations of collectors and cinephiles alike.\u201d<\/p>\n Zach Pogemiller, Heritage\u2019s Associate Director of Movie Posters, agrees. \u201cHeritage has never had this concentration of extant and near-extant treasures from around the world, especially ones signed by their artists. We are incredibly proud to debut them here. Dwight\u2019s keen eye and relentless pursuit have preserved a visual language that might have otherwise been lost, and this sale offers collectors a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a piece of that legacy.”<\/p>\n Courtesy Heritage Auctions<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n This auction, offering the cream of Cleveland\u2019s collection, is the first of several that will showcase further gems from Cleveland\u2019s trove as Heritage continues its relationship with the powerhouse collector. Says Cleveland, \u201cI hope Heritage\u2019s clients and all movie and art lovers experience that same initial lightning bolt I felt when viewing these rare treasures for the first time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For images and information about all the lots in Heritages\u2019 March 27-28 Cinema on Paper: The Dwight M. Cleveland Collection Movie Posters Signature\u00ae<\/sup> Auction<\/a>, please go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dwight Cleveland’s Movie Poster Collection Stars as Largest in the World<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Original James Bond Art Sells For $275,000<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.antiquetrader.com\/.image\/c_fit%2Ch_800%2Cw_1200\/MjEzMjMwODUyNDU5NDcyMzM1\/king-kong-rko-1933-czech-poster_web.jpg\")
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