Cassandre, pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie MouronNotice d'autorité personne : Cassandre
BnF, according to the international pseudonym convention described in the BnF authority file. (24 January 190117 June 1968) was a French painter, commercial poster artist, and

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

designer.

Early life and career

He was born Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, Ukraine, to French parents. As a young man, he moved to Paris, where he studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

and at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number ...

. The popularity of posters as advertising afforded him an opportunity to work for a Parisian printing house. Inspired by

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

as well as

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

, 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. 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 Newrest Wagons-Lits, formerly (lit. ''International Sleeping-Car Company''), also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is a division of particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being ...

. He was a pioneer on

airbrush An airbrush is a small, Pneumatics, air-operated tool that Atomizer nozzle, atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint but also ink and dye, and Foundation (cosmetics), foundation. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is c ...

arts. 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 Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

. In addition, he taught

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...

at the

École des Arts Décoratifs École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and then at the École d'Art Graphique. With typography an important part of poster design, the company created several new typeface styles. Cassandre developed

Bifur This article describes all named characters appearing in J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 book ''The Hobbit''. Creatures as collectives are not included. Characters are categorized by race. Spelling and point of view are given as from ''The Hobbit''. Ho ...

in 1929, the

sans serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ser ...

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 The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in New York City which led to commissions from

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...

to do cover designs.

Later career

With the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Cassandre served in the

French army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

until the fall of France. His business long gone, he survived by creating stage sets and costumes for the theatre, something he had 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 Hermès International S.A., or simply Hermès ( , ), is a French luxury design house established in 1837. It specializes in leather goods, lifestyle accessories, home furnishings, perfumery, jewelry, watches and ready-to-wear. Its logo, sinc ...

and the well-known Yves Saint Laurent logo. In his later years, Cassandre suffered from bouts of depression prior to his suicide in Paris in 1968. In 1985, his son Henri Mouron published a study of his father's work in a book titled ''A.M. Cassandre''.

Typeface

These foundry types were produced by

Deberny & Peignot Deberny & Peignot (Fonderie Deberny et Peignot) was a French type foundry, created by the 1923 merger of G. Peignot & Fils and Deberny & Cie. It was bought by the Haas Type Foundry (Switzerland) in 1972, which in turn was merged into D. Stempel ...

from designs by Cassandre:

Notable works

* ''Nord Express'', 1925 * ''Etoile Du Nord'', 1927 * ''La Route Bleue'', 1929 * ''Chemin De Fer Du Nord'', 1929 * ''L’ Atlantique'', 1931 * ''Triplex'', 1930 * ''Dubonnet'', 1932 * ''Normandie'', 1935

References

Other sources * Robert K. Brown, Susan Reinhold: ''The poster art of A. M. Cassandre.'' - New York: Dutton, 1979 * Henri Mouron: ''A. M. Cassandre : affiches, arts graph., théâtre.'' - München: Schirmer/Mosel, 1985
published in English as ''Cassandre : Posters, Typography, Stage Designs'' - London: Thames and Hudson, 1986 ()

External links

Official french website with many samples of his work

Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassandre, Adolphe Mouron 1901 births 1968 suicides Artists from Kharkiv People from Kharkovsky Uyezd French graphic designers French poster artists Pseudonymous artists 20th-century French painters Académie Julian alumni Artists who committed suicide Suicides in France