R Galleries/Atelier makes an art of poster production

Jennifer Prosser

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 9:23 a.m.

Jennifer Prosser

VEGAS.COM

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Visitors to the 2,200-square-foot gallery and workshop, located right inside the front doors of the casino, are able to view something most Americans don't have the chance to - a 120-year-old French lithography press in action.

"We do something that nobody else does," said Mike Sommers, gallery manager. "We can show the public, step by step, how lithographies are made. It's a rare opportunity that people can watch craftsman pull lithographies, one at a time, by hand, the way (19th century artist) Toulouse-Lautrec himself did it over 100 years ago."

Using the original historic poster as a model, an artist hand draws a plate for each color in the print. Artisans hand-pull each impression, one color at a time, making sure each color is in perfect registration. Once the posters are complete, the plates are destroyed.

The result is a re-production that is of better quality than the original. 200 posters are made in all. The press is run from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. On average, a press run for one set of posters takes three weeks.

The stunning recreations are rich in color and contrast. Each is printed on parchment lithography paper.

R Galleries' posters are also more affordable than the originals. For example, the original "Moulin Rouge" poster, which was torn, tattered and faded, recently sold at auction for $470,000. An exact replica at R Galleries costs only $1,700 framed.

And the eclectic collection has something for every taste. In addition to vintage movie posters, the R Galleries has an exclusive contract to reproduce the works of Alphonse Mucha, one of the leading artists of the Art Nouveau movement. The gallery also features the art of Tom Everhart, the only artist authorized by the late, great Charles Schulz to depict the Peanuts characters, and celebrity lithographs by Al Hirschfeld, some of which are signed by both the artist and his subject.

Sommers said that acquiring the original artwork is a process of "trial and error." The gallery recently got its hands on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. Sommers said it will take the gallery three years to print the posters.

But time considerations aren't the only restraints holding up the printing of these vintage posters. In additional to AFI's movie copyright, the gallery must get the permissions of the estates of the actors, directors and anyone else whose name appears on the posters. "It's not as easy as one would think," said Sommers.

R Galleries has been open almost a year and a half - it opened with the Paris hotel-casino Sept. 1, 1999. In the gallery's first year of operation, it far exceeded sales expectations, Sommers said. "So far this year, we're doing better than last. It's been very, very good."

And Sommers witnesses the gallery's popularity daily. "It's a pleasure to watch people walk in and say 'wow' every day," said Sommers. "People really like it," he said.

The R Galleries/Atelier is part of the S²Art Group, which is headquartered in Chicago. There is also a R Gallery in New Orleans and an Atelier in New York City.