At the flea market, 100 euros or more are rarely asked for a poster, like at the weekend on Munich’s Theresienwiese. Some of the somewhat battered posters of the 1972 Olympic Games ended up on the Grabbelt table there, but the fact that they sold “only so-so”, as the seller admitted, is neither due to the condition nor the price: the range is currently large, so you can be selective .
The posters from 1972 are experiencing a renaissance because it is the 50th anniversary of the Munich Games and Otl Aicher would have been 100th on May 13th. Aicher shaped Munich ’72 with its striking yet timeless design, striking colors and stylized motifs. The posters he designed are still coveted collectors’ items today. “Because they are simply beautiful,” says Tobias Kohler, spokesman for Munich’s Olympiapark GmbH.
Ten motifs were newly produced in DIN-A1 format and in a limited edition of 150 copies each. You can buy them at an affordable price of 14.95 euros each. The blue park motif with tent roof and Olympic tower is already sold out. Due to the demand, the Olympic Park is negotiating with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about a further requirement. At the time, the IOC secured all the rights to the shapes and colors of the Munich games, and the licenses are well paid for.
The current reprints are not comparable to the originals from 1972, says Angelika Friedrich, director of the poster gallery in Munich. Like the art gallery Art:ig, they have a larger selection in the store, also in DIN-A0 format, which was also used at the time. The colors look different on the originals, explains Friedrich, the print quality is better, the paper is duller. Anyone who has touched such a bow at the flea market knows what she means.
Because of the 1972 originals, the galleries don’t have to negotiate long with the IOC, they get their works from private stocks. In the anniversary year, a great many appeared on the market – dug out of cellars, tracked down in attics, discovered in the estate of grandparents, some carefully guarded in rolls, some used to be pinned to the walls of student digs. According to the Art:ig gallery, there is a bit of hype about the offers, “sometimes with horrendous asking prices”. All owners of ’72 posters thought “they’re making the mega deal now”.
For resale, prices range between 129 and 680 euros, depending not only on size and condition, but above all on the availability of the motifs. Wrestling and horseback riding are common, but football, handball and hockey are rare. The rarest are test prints, in which different color combinations are tried out before committing to an official one.
The motifs from some disciplines have never been published in series, there are only individual pieces that are called for almost 1000 euros – “with traces of use”, which are specifically pointed out. The 100 euros from the flea market are actually a bargain.