Offered is an extremely rare c.1920 Babe Ruth postcard, manufactured for and distributed by Société Anonyme, a New York City-based avant-garde art organization founded in 1920 by Katherine Dreier. Dreier and her friend, fellow artist Marcel Duchamp, formed this group, which concentrated on exhibiting and promoting American and European modern art to Americans.
They held their first exhibit on April 30, 1920, and while the exhibit was well received, from the outset the organization was sparsely financed, and were continuously sourcing for new revenue streams to keep this art club viable. The group produced publications and had an acquisitions program, but one of the more popular promotions was producing real photo postcards (RPPC) of popular art—actual photos of real artwork taken by famed photography artist Man Ray, a close friend of Duchamp’s.
Around the same time of that first exhibit, a new resident of the city was setting up his own 'gallery' in Upper Manhattan. In late December 1919, the Boston Red Sox gave New York baseball fans a late Christmas present and sold Babe Ruth, baseball's newest superstar, to the rival Yankees. The transaction proved an ideal opportunity for the fledgling art organization to capitalize on the celebrity of Ruth by producing a postcard of the new Yankees hero. The Société rushed out a hastily produced RPPC of the Babe, even using the same image of Ruth used on the dust jacket from 'The Home Run King by 'Babe' Ruth,' a book about Ruth also published in 1920. This image has Ruth in his patented swing, but curiously both his eyes are closed. And while most Société Anonyme postcards depict the organizations name on the obverse, this Ruth example has the name printed on the back, from a postcard whose PRC stamp area distinguishes it from being 1917.
Despite its best efforts to raise the necessary funds, the organization closed its doors a year later. However, Société Anonyme continued to exist by holding exhibits, lectures, and symposia in other galleries, clubs, workers’ centers, and rental spaces. While Dreier's efforts for promoting the art world proved futile, one enduring aspect of the group was its postcards—specifically this Ruth postcard.
This example, one of only a few known to exist, has nearly evenly rounded corners, with light layering evident on the lower two, and no creases. The image is crisp, with the Société Anonyme photographer using the image from the 1920 book dust jacket. A very scarce RPPC promoting the greatest sports figure of all time, during Ruth's premiere season in a New York Yankees uniform.
Very Good to Excellent overall condition.
