CASSANDRE by Roland Mouron, Estate of A.M.CASSANDRE

​​​Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, known best as Cassandre, was the preeminent graphic designer of the interwar period— a creative genius whose prophetic nickname foreshadowed the indelible mark he would leave on his era.

Cassandre was at various times a poster artist, typographer, decorator, and painter, revolutionizing advertising by fostering a dialogue between art and the public. However, his compulsive perfectionism eventually led to his tragic downfall.

 

More adept than any at capturing the spirit of his time, Cassandre drew from both photography and cinema to synthesize all the artistic movements of his era: avant-garde, echoing the futurist manifesto of the early century, as well as purism, cubism, and surrealism, all influenced his creations.

 

His clean compositions beautifully magnified objects while his figures took on the form of stylized silhouettes. Later, swapping the square for the compass and pure colors for a softer palette, he reinvented himself by offering a more sensual, even humorous, poetry of the image.

 

A fervent animator of modern life and dubbed the "first director of the street" by Blaise Cendrars, Cassandre celebrated advertising from the beginning of his career as " the flower of contemporary life. " In a rapidly accelerating world, where horse-drawn carriages swiftly gave way to motor vehicles, he was one of the first visual communication artist-theorists. With the public’s reading time drastically reduced, he revolutionized advertising art by infusing it with a brutal calling power to instantly capture attention while adapting to the new urban landscapes emerging from the Great War.

In an increasingly industrialized and mechanized city, Cassandre envisioned the poster as an integral part of architectural masses, assigning it the role of furnishing ever-expanding facades and animating entire districts while offering a true visual spectacle.

 

Cassandre’s work presents a novel tableau of our relationship with the everyday art of advertising—a medium that, 100 years after Cassandre, in the age of "scroll," "swipe," and "click," continues to infiltrate our lives, requiring us to deconstruct it to better assimilate it.

​

​

A.M.CASSANDRE A VISIONARY  DESIGNER (1921-1934)- ACT 1

After honing his skills at the drawing academies of Paris, Cassandre decided to devote himself to what he saw as the most promising art form: advertising.

Quickly, he began to theorize his approach, and by 1925, his first creation made him famous. Synthesizing the major avant-garde currents of the time, his work celebrated the zeitgeist.

Hailed as a brilliant inventor, Cassandre became an essential figure in the world of poster art and gained widespread fame.

​

A.M.CASSANDRE AT THE TOP OF THE BILL (1935-1938) - ACT 2

By 1936, at the peak of his art, Cassandre pulled off a masterstroke with his masterpiece: the Normandie.

His fame was such that he was invited to work in the United States. Celebrated as the epitome of modern poster art, on par with the great names of cubism, he was featured in an exhibition at MoMA.

Soon after, Ford, the automotive giant, commissioned a poster from him. However, despite its impressive creation, this venture ended in commercial failure.

​

A.M.CASSANDRE A GRAPHIC TRAGEDY (1939-1968) - ACT 3

Returning to France, disillusioned with the advertising world, Cassandre faced his lifelong demon and turned to easel painting. But his pictorial creations did not spark the enthusiasm he hoped for, and depression took over. Overtaken by bitterness and a relentless quest for perfection, his poster production dwindled.

Unable to express himself artistically, he ended his life.

His suicide was executed with the same precision that had haunted him throughout his life.​​​​​