ANDRÉ GIRARD (1901-1968) EXPOSITION INTERNATIONALE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS ET INDUSTRIELS MODERNES. 1925.
23 1/2x15 1/2 inches, 59 3/4x39 1/2 cm. Les Editions de l'Image de France, Paris.
Condition B+ / B: repaired tears, restoration and discoloration at edges; creases and abrasions in margins and image; repaired pin holes in corners.
This is the rarest of the four posters that were commissioned for the seminal Exposition Internationale de Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Similar to its use of smoking chimneys in the poster designed by Charles Loupot for the same exhibition, Girard's image has a much stronger and more dynamic layout. The smokestacks rise in a pyramid that visually echoes the seething mass of men who are scrambling to get to the top of their own pyramid. At the pinnacle one man holds aloft a chalice, perhaps meant to indicate a form of perfection toward which all are striving. As with the other three posters designed for the exhibition, colors are kept to a minimum. this is the scarce smaller format Girard np.