Sale 2459 - Rare & Important Travel Posters, October 26, 2017

E. POLBOR (DATES UNKNOWN) 150 c CIDNA / ORIENT ARROW. 1930. 39 1 / 4 x24 1 / 4 inches, 99 3 / 4 x61 1 / 2 cm. Editions Polbor. Condition B+: restored losses, repaired tears, creases and minor staining in margins. CIDNA (Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne) was a French-Romanian airline that began operating in 1920. Their “Arrow of the Orient” service connected France with Istanbul, with stops in Eastern Europe along the way, offering same-day service for passengers, freight and post. CIDNA ceased to exist in 1933 when it merged with other French airlines to form Air France. Polbor is known to have designed only one other poster, for an auto racing event in 1933, and it is a far less attractive image. Other than that, there is no biographical information on the artist. It is somewhat of a mystery that such a wonderful, Art Deco image could have been designed by a virtually unknown artist. At a quick glance, the poster appears to have many of the hallmarks of a graphic work by A.M. Cassandre. One is reminded of Cassandre’s single attempt at capturing an airplane in his poster from the previous year for the Flèche d’Argent , yet this image is arguably the stronger graphic. L’Histoire de l’Aviation p. 88.   [3,000/4,000]