ADOLPHE MOURON CASSANDRE (1901-1968) MINIWATT / PHILIPS RADIO. 1931. 22 1/4x15 1/4 inches, 56 1/2x38 3/4 cm. Alliance Graphique, Paris. Condition B+: expertly-repaired tears at edges, some slightly into image; minor creases and restoration in image. One of Cassandre's few forays into the realm of Sachplakat, also known as Object Posters or Ideograms. What differentiates Cassandre's image from those designed by Swiss artists is his airbrush treatment of the light and shadows; the tube is darker on the side with the lighter colored background and lighter on the side with darker background. The typography, which crosses the image, bears Cassandre's signature style of being outlined within the confines of the bulb itself. "The primary virtue of the IDEOGRAM is to be precise and clear . . . by overturning the established order and scale of things to create a fictive counterreality that is more explicit than reality itself, it becomes a poetic object in its own right" (Mouron p. 74). This is the smallest of three formats. Mouron pl. 32, Tourism 25, Brown & Reinhold 33, Cassandre / Weill p. 53, Magic of Things 30. This is a variant, with inset printer's text. Mouron pl. 32, Tourism 25, Brown & Reinhold 33, Cassandre / Weill 122, Suntory 25, Magic of Things 30, Reina Sofia p. 178.
