ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968) ITALIA - COSULICH / LLOYD TRIESTINO - ADRIA. 1936. 37 1/2x24 inches, 95 1/4x61 cm. Condition B: replaced top and bottom margins; restored losses in margins and text; repaired tears, creases, abrasions and overpainting in margins and image. Of all the different kinds of posters Cassandre designed, ocean travel was "a theme the artist delighted in, constantly renewing himself, constantly varying not only his point of view and angle but also his style" (Mouron p. 64). Indeed, compared to his monolithic work for the Normandie and L'Atlantique, his close-up views of the Statendam's and S.S. Cote d'Azur's funnels, and his "diagramatic" image for SAGA, here "Cassandre renewed his vision yet again . . . dramatically reducing the size of the three ships setting out to conquer a watery globe" (Mouron p. 67). On this poster the artist only signs his initials, using a monogram instead of his signature to protect his identity from the Mussolini regime that had banned French artists from working on Italian commissions. Variants also appear printed in French and German. Mouron 100 (var), Schipp & Affiche p. 90 (var), Crouse p. 243 (var).
