ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968) CHAMPIONS DU MONDE. 1930.
25 1/2x19 inches, 64 3/4x48 1/4 cm.
Condition A- / B+: minor restoration in upper right corner and signature; expertly-repaired tear at left edge, into image; minor creases in upper right image; unobtrusive vertical and horizontal folds.
At first glance this appears to be an object poster with the book fully illuminated in the center of the poster. In fact, it is the dark evocation of an avid reader, gripping the book, engrossed in its content, which gives such an hypnotic affect to the image. Brown & Reinhold refers to it as both surreal in regards to its "nocturnal lighting effect" as well as superrealist (Brown & Reinhold p. 15). "The subtlety of brown tones, reflections on the glasses, the pressure of the readers grip on the book all evoke the extraordinary concentration of the man passionately devouring the novel and that nothing seems able to detach his attention, not even our gaze " (Weill / Cassandre p. 42). rare. Mouron pl. 25, Cassandre / Suntory p. 49, Cassandre / Weill p. 42, Brown & Reinhold 22, Metiers No. 18-21, 1930 IX, Affiche Art Deco p. 136, Encyclopedie de l'Affiche p. 338.