ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968). NORD EXPRESS. 1927.
41 1/2x29 1/2 inches. Hachard & Co., Paris.
Condition B+: restored losses and restoration in margins and image; creases, repaired tears and discoloration in margins; expert enhancement (overpainting) in dark blue background beneath the word "Express."
Nord Express was the second poster Cassandre was commissioned to design for the Chemin de fer du Nord railway in 1927. This stylized locomotive is a graphic glorification of the Machine Age and is rendered in architecturally precise geometric shapes and white lines. The design is made even more impressive by its perspective: seen from track level, the locomotive appears all the more massive and powerful, its great speed emphasized by the dramatic way that it disappears into the horizon (a horizon ingeniously brought even closer by the telegraph wires, which also quickly disappear). An airbrush is cleverly used to create what Henri Mouron, Cassandre's son, refers to as an "authentic poetry of space." Cassandre has arranged the typography around the edges of the poster so as not to interfere with the image (a stylistic device he had originally used on his first poster for the railway, the Etoile du Nord). One of the most enduring Art Deco icons. Mouron / Cassandre pl. 10, Weill / Cassandre pl. 13, Suntory 49, p. 73, Reina Sophia p. 159. Modern Poster 155, Word & Image 80.

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