POSTERS BY CASSANDRE
A. M. Cassandre , Ernestine M. Fantl [Foreword]
A. M. Cassandre [Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron], Ernestine M. Fantl [Foreword]: POSTERS BY CASSANDRE. New York: Museum of Modern Art, January 1936. First edition [1,500 copies printed by the Spiral Press]. Octavo. Screen-printed stapled, stiff wrappers. 20 pp. Plates. Original lithographed cover design by A. M. Cassandre. Wrappers lightly worn and soiled. Endpapers foxed, but a good copy of this early MoMA catalog.
7.5 x 10 softcover catalog with 20 pages and 10 black and white illustrations of posters designed by A. M. Cassandre, the talented Ukranian-born French poster artist, typographer and stage designer of the 20s and 30s. From his epoch-defining travel posters to his advertisements for Dubonnet, Cassandre acknowledged no boundaries to his poster art. Combining surrealism and cubism through the rigors of commercial art, he single-handedly defined an era.
A. M. Cassandre (1901 - 1968) born Adolphe Jean Edouard Mouron and studied at the Ecoles des Beaux Arts in Paris. He produced his first poster Au Bucheron at 22. Cassandre's work was seen as a bridge between the modern fine arts and the commercial arts. Despite his affinity to the fine arts he always believed there should be a separateness between disciplines. The success of his posters probably lies in his philosophy that his posters were meant to be seen by people who do not try to see them. In 1936 he traveled to America to work on several projects. While there he designed several surrealistic covers for Alexey Brodovitch at Harper's Bazaar. In addition, he created for NW Ayers, the classic eye of the Ford billboard and several pieces for the Container Corporation of America. His career as a poster designer ended in 1939 when he changed disciplines and became a stage, set and theatrical designer.