HENRI CASSIERS (1858-1944) [VOITURES GERMAIN.] 1902.
28 1/4x41 1/2 inches, 71 3/4x105 1/2 cm. Aug. Benard, Liege.
Condition B+: replaced losses and repaired tears in margins, some affecting image.
Cassiers was a painter from Flanders who designed many successful posters, most notably for his main client, the Antwerp-based Red Star Line ship company. Whether advertising ships, cars, elixirs or resorts, his style primarily revolved around the people of his country, and his posters are populated by fishermen, farmers and peasants within the typically flat landscapes of the region. For Voitures Germain, a Belgian car company, Cassiers depicts villagers reacting to this novel, modern convenience. The scene is very similar to the 1897 poster he designed for Coq-Sur-Mer, a sea resort, in which a peasant cottage and the locals are also very precisely drawn and richly colored. Cassiers' skill in organizing the image to deliver the message is evident in both posters. Here, the people in the forefront and in the background all stare at this new marvel of technology and their gazes automatically draw the viewer's eyes to the car as well. This image was reused in a larger format in 1914 with slightly different text, "Automobiles Germain". This earlier, smaller format is very rare. Cassiers p. 84, Wallonie p. 53.