May 10, 2012 - Sale 2278

Sale 2278 - Lot 80

Unsold
Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000
A. M. CASSANDRE (ADOLPHE MOURON, 1901-1968) [HARPER'S BAZAAR.] Gouache maquette on artist's board. 1939.
13 3/4x10 1/2 inches, 35x26 1/2 cm.
Condition A- / B+: creases in corners; minor loss along bottom edge. Signed by the artist in gouache; inscribed, initialed and dated by the artist in pencil.
This poetic depiction of a woman floating through the cosmos with host of celestial seashells accompanying her was never chosen as a cover for Harper's Bazaar. But it is one of Cassandre's most tender and surrealist images done during that time, and can well be considered a turning point in his work. The way in which he renders the arms and face of the woman, the detail of her gown, and the shells, all announce the style he would use for his theatre costumes in the following decades. Suntory p. 120.