Page 86 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968)
100 ● NORD EXPRESS. 1927.
41x29 inches, 105x75 cm. Hachard & Cie., Paris.
Condition B+ / B: minor restoration along sharp vertical and horizontal folds; restored pin holes and
restoration in corners; minor repaired tears at edges.
Nord Express was the second poster Cassandre designed for the Chemin de fer du Nord railway in
1927. This stylized locomotive is a graphic glorification of the Machine Age and is rendered in
architecturally precise geometric shapes and white lines. The design is made even more impressive by
its perspective; seen from track level, the locomotive appears all the more massive and powerful, with
its great speed emphasized by the dramatic way it disappears into the horizon, (a horizon ingeniously
brought even closer by the telegraph wires which also quickly disappear). An airbrush is cleverly used
to create what Henri Mouron, Cassandre’s son, refers to as an “authentic poetry of space.” Repeating
a design choice from Étoile du Nord, Cassandre has again arranged the typography around the outside
of the poster so as not to interfere with the image. The image has become one of the most enduring
Machine Age icons. Mouron pl. 10, Cassandre / Weill pl. 13, Cassandre / Suntory 49, p. 73, Cassandre
/ Tokyo 19, Brown & Reinhold 9, Reina Sofia p. 159, Modern Poster 155, Word & Image p. 80,
Weill 310, Art Deco Graphics p. 77, 1000 Posters 186, Affiches Art Deco p. 37. [12,000/18,000]