Page 93 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968)
107 GRAND - SPORT. 1931.
313/4x23 inches, 96x58 1/2 cm. Alliance Graphique, Paris.
Condition A: minor abrasions in image.
This is the second poster Cassandre designed for this hat company. The first, six years earlier, was
built around a strict vertical axis and had straightforward lettering. Over the intervening years between
the two designs, Cassandre’s stylistic evolution is evident. This poster is more picturesque and gains
in evocative power what it loses in emblematic force. Cassandre had become a typography virtuoso,
and here, he is able to reduce the already minimal outline of the face by using the lettering to build
the left side of the man’s head. The head has been jauntily tilted at an angle and the pipe now conforms
to one of Cassandre’s favorite graphic games; its outline changes color beyond the confines of the
head. Mouron ill. 67, Cassandre / Suntory 44. [15,000/20,000]