Oct 10 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2681 -

Sale 2681 - Lot 82

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968)

ITALIA. 1935.


39¾x24½ inches, 101x62¼ cm. Coen & C., Milan.
Condition B+: expert overpainting in margins and printer's text; expertly-repaired tears, creases and restoration in margins and image; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds.

One of two images Cassandre produced for the ENIT (Italian Railway) during a summer's stay in Italy with his assistant Raymond Savignac in 1935. The other image depicted "the arts" of Italy, while this poster depicted "the sports," or leisure activities available to tourists. It is a compositional tour-de-force, promoting the lakes and mountains, tennis, sailing, skiing and golf all at the same time. The image is literally held together by the anchor's elegant rope. As a French artist working in Mussolini's Italy, Cassandre used a monogram instead of his signature to protect his identity. Printed in English, French, German and Italian, most copies bear additional text explaining that Italy is "The Ideal Land For All Sports." This is the Italian version, without the additional text below the title.

Mouron 192 (var), Alps 10, Reinhold Brown pl. 58, Voyage p. 47, Manifesta 2, Travel Italia p. 14, Golf p. 15.