The Art of the Sale

During the last decade Dartmouth Winter Carnival posters have become collectors' items. A1938 poster (below) in "B" condition (due to over-painting and some deterioration) created by artist T.N. Joanethis sold at New York City's Swann Auction Galleries for $2,000 last February. Another copy of the poster sold for $7,800 in 2008. Who is paying those prices and why? Swann's Nicholas Lowry says that Dartmouth alumni buy 90 percent of the Winter Carnival posters, but there is a subculture of people who collect a variety of ski posters for their vacation homes. They pay high prices for a couple of reasons. First, vintage posters in good condition are rare because they were not designed to last. Second, some posters are early works by artists who went on to greater fame. For example, Dwight Shepler designed the 1936 carnival poster, which sold in 2010 for $7,200. Shepler later designed iconic ski posters for the Union Pacific Railroad and Sun Valley that sell in the same price range. He went on to cover the invasion of Normandy during World War II as part of the U.S. Navy's officer-artist program.

"I'm not a fan of this tradition." -MEN'S HOCKEY COACH BOB GAUDET '81 ON STUDENTS TOSSING TENNIS BALLS ON THE ICE WHEN DARTMOUTH SCORES AGAINST PRINCETON

"I think even though you may know a lot about sex, there's always stuff you can learn." -ANNA NOREUIL '16 ON ATTENDING THE STUDENT SEXFEST EVENT AT THE TOP OF THE HOP IN MARCH