BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBYJEFF GRANIT staff Max Bernstein's Inheritance Gallery in Red Bank has carved out a niche by specializing in rare vintage posters. If there is a small furry dog sitting on the windowsill at the Inheritance Gallery, the shop is open.

Max Bernstein, the gallery's owner/creative director, doesn't put a sign in the window when he goes out to get coffee, he lets his Shih Tzu/pug, YoYo, be the messenger.

As far as Bernstein is concerned, it works because everyone in town knows YoYo and everyone knows that when the dog is in the window, the owner is out.

It also works because the Inheritance Gallery is in a very charming location of intimate little shops known as the Victorian Courtyard, off Monmouth Street and easily accessible from the White Street parking lot, in Red Bank.

Bernstein, who grew up in Interlaken and now lives in Fair Haven, is an authentic Red Bank character. His family owns Atlantic Glass on Maple Avenue, where he worked before branching out on his own.

"When I left the family business, I thought about opening a picture framing shop," he said, "but when I attended a trade show, I met someone selling posters and decided to go in that direction as well as framing."

Bernstein explained that he contacted his best friend from high school, Vincent Segall, who was living in France at the time.

"I asked him to look for antiques stores with old posters," he recalled.

So Segall spoke to a caf friend of his, who told him that his cousin Claude was the person to contact. Segall did, and shortly after, Bernstein received about a dozen posters in the mail from France.

Since then, he has taken a number of trips to Europe shopping for posters.

"I don't buy them out of a catalog, " he explained.

For Bernstein, the lesson was clear: contacts, contacts, contacts. He needed to find a lot more cousin Claudes.

"In France, I knocked on doors, went to flea markets. One person introduced me to another person and so on," he recounted.

Bernstein's mission is to bring his finds - rare, good quality, vintage posters - to the Red Bank area.

"I love the fact that they are found art. I'm providing something that no one else is providing in town. In fact, there are not many people doing this anywhere. If you don't come here, you won't find them any other places," he said, adding that there are probably fewer than 200 original poster dealers in the world.

He explained that none of the rare posters the gallery specializes in were printed to be sold, so they were not mass produced.

"Most collectible posters are European advertising posters that go back to the turn of the [last] century," he explained.

When Bernstein buys the posters, they are rolled up in small bundles.

"They are on very thin papers and very fragile," he said, explaining that he has to have the posters restored and mounted on archival papers like rice paper or linen.

He added that the best restorers and mounters are in New York and Italy.

"They are wonderful artisans," he said. "They have to fill in the fold lines matching the colors perfectly. They use a wet process so when the paper dries, it tightens up."

The gallery carries a myriad of posters from European countries and the United States. The colorful posters come in all sizes and many styles and types. The gallery carries movie posters like the advertisement for the "Seven Year Itch" with Marilyn Monroe.

Movie posters are very collectable, as are rock 'n' roll posters.

"Posters from Springsteen concerts are very popular," he said.

Some poster artists are famous, but many are not and the posters are not signed. Leonetto Cappiello is one of the famous poster artists, he said, pointing out a large example that hangs just inside the front door of the gallery. It is an advertisement for Contralto champagne.

The large-scale, vibrant 55-by-76-inch poster was created in 1922 and sells for $5,000.

Bernstein said the poster was an advertisement on a kiosk in Europe and had to be lithographed on two separate stones because it is so large.

He said that most people want original posters to hang as decorations on their walls, but he does sell a lot of contemporary posters, like ski posters.

When he opened his business, he incorporated his first business idea and does framing. He has a wall full of frame samples and gives customers who buy posters a 20 percent discount on framing.

Bernstein noted that the days of finding a $100,000 poster at a flea market are over. People are very sophisticated about antiques these days, he said, but there are still some finds.

"Occasionally, I'll find a steal," he said.

The poster gallery suits Bernstein, he said, because "they're fun and beautiful and something you can't buy at a mall."

The Inheritance Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays.

Bernstein, whose only other staff member is YoYo, said sometimes he's there at off times, so look for the doggie in the window.

The Inheritance Gallery Web page is www.inheritancegallery.com.

Gallery spotlight