PIERRE FIX-MASSEAU (1905-1994) COTE D'AZUR. 1929. 39 3/8x24 1/4 inches. L. Danel, Lille. Condition A. Hand signed and dated (later) in pencil. Fix-Masseau was lucky enough to have a position as assistant in Cassandre's studio at the end of the 1920s. While working there he was able to learn, first-hand, about Cassandre's style and techniques. Indeed, in this Art Deco masterpiece, one of the classic, Art Deco train images, Fix-Masseau borrows liberally from the work of Cassandre. With text framing the image and a tiny distant focal pointed from which both the train and the tracks emerge, one is instantly reminded of Cassandre's Nord Express. Yet, in a noticeable break from Cassandre's concept, Fix-Masseau's image has the train rushing towards the viewer, not away, and the mountains alongside the train echo the wafting smoke from the locomotive's funnel. In 1932 Fix-Masseau designed another pillar in the Pantheon of Art Deco travel posters when he depicted the on-time arrival of a similar engine pulling into a station under the heading Exactitude. Azur 14, Le Train 268, Golden Age 132.
