After Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron "Cassandre" (1901-1968) French, Willi's Wine Bar Poster. Classic Cassandre design of red wine flowing into a glass. Signed and dated in original image '35 bottom right. Further information and dates at very bottom middle. 

Condition: Broken glass in lower right corner. Poster commensurate with age. 

Overall Size: 39 7/8 x 27 3/4 in. 

Sight Size: 39 x 27 in. 

#4109 . 

Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron was born on January 24th, 1901 in Kharkiv, Sloboda Ukraine to French parents who soon returned with him to Paris. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian. The burgeoning popularity of posters as advertising afforded him an opportunity to work for a Parisian printing house in 1922. Inspired by cubism as well as surrealism, he earned a reputation with works such as Bûcheron (Woodcutter), a poster created for a cabinetmaker that won first prize at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. His creations for the Dubonnet wine company were among the first posters designed in a manner that allowed them to be seen by occupants in moving vehicles. His posters are memorable for their innovative graphic solutions and their frequent denotations to such painters as Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso. In addition, he taught graphic design at the École des Arts Décoratifs and then at the École d’Art Graphique. His unique and easily recognizable style became synonymous with poster design in the early 20th Century, and he worked primarily under the pseudonym “Cassandre.” Cassandre became successful enough that with the help of partners he was able to set up his own advertising agency called Alliance Graphique, serving a wide variety of clients during the 1930s. He is perhaps best known for his posters advertising travel, for clients such as the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, a luxury train line, as well as ocean liners like the Normandie. He was a pioneer of airbrush arts, and with typography an important part of poster design the company created several new typeface styles. Cassandre developed Bifur in 1929, the sans serif Acier Noir in 1935, and in 1937 an all-purpose font called Peignot. In 1936 his works were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City which led to commissions from Harper’s Bazaar to do cover designs. At the onset of World War II Cassandre served in the French army until the fall of France. His business destroyed, he survived by creating stage sets and costumes for local theaters, something he had only dabbled in during the 1930s. After the War he continued this line of work while also returning to easel painting. He worked with several famous French fashion houses, designing playing cards and scarfs for Hermès and the well-known Yves Saint Laurent logo. In his later years Cassandre suffered from bouts of depression and what would come to be called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He died by suicide in Paris in June, 1968, and was buried in the Parisian Montparnasse Cemetery (8th division). In 1985 his son Henri Mouron published a study of his father’s work in a book titled A.M. Cassandre, which revealed his true identity and revived interest in his art and career.

Broken glass in lower right corner. Poster commensurate with age.