Cassandre, the other master of the French Art Deco poster
Adolphe Cassandre, the inventor of the modern poster. Étoile du Nord, Normandie, Wagons-Lits, Dubonnet. Why his geometric minimalism remains foundational to contemporary commercial graphic design.
Key points
- 56 posters in the Art Deco posters collection, the 20 from this article in the table below.
- From 20,45 € in A4, up to 71,70 € in A0, 5 sizes for each poster.
- Printed in Ireland on demand, free delivery from 59 €.
The table
The 20 posters at a glance
Adolphe Mouron, known as Cassandre (1901-1968), is the second great master of French Art Deco posters alongside Roger Broders. His ads for Dubonnet, Pernod, the Normandie and the SNCF defined the visual language of 20th-century Europe.
Cassandre thought of the poster as a pure object of communication. Radical geometry, monumental typography, total simplicity. His “Étoile du Nord” from 1927 and his “Normandie” from 1935 are in the collections of the MoMA. He also designed the typefaces Bifur, Acier Noir and Peignot, still in use today.
Our catalog draws on this rigorous Art Deco grammar. See our advertising posters that revive the Cassandre spirit. An aged brass or matte black metal frame is recommended.
Cassandre, the inventor of the modern poster
If Roger Broders is the illustrator of gentle travel, Cassandre is the inventor of visual shock. Between 1925 and 1940, he revolutionized French commercial posters with a grammar that seems obvious today but was radical at the time: flat color, Cubist geometry, typographic minimalism.
Étoile du Nord, Normandie, Wagons-Lits, Dubonnet: his posters have become icons of the 20th century. Here is who Adolphe Mouron, known as Cassandre, was, and why his influence remains foundational for the contemporary poster.
A Ukrainian painter in Paris
Adolphe Jean Marie Mouron was born in Kharkov in 1901, in what was then Russian Ukraine. His family moved to Paris in 1915. The young Adolphe studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and then at the Académie Julian, but his real schooling happened in the street, looking at the advertising posters covering the walls of Paris.
At 22, in 1923, he signed his first commercial poster under the pseudonym Cassandre, after the Trojan prophetess. The choice was no accident: Cassandra saw the future but no one believed her. Adolphe Mouron, for his part, would see the future of commercial graphic design well before his contemporaries.
1925, the year of revolution
1925 was the year of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, which gave Art Deco its name. Cassandre exhibited there, and the following year he created his first major poster, Au Bûcheron, for the Parisian stores of the same name. The composition is Cubist, the colors are saturated, and the lettering is hand-drawn and woven into the illustration. No one had ever treated a commercial poster like an avant-garde painting.
The posters that made history
Étoile du Nord (1927)
For the Chemins de fer du Nord railway. A composition of absolute simplicity: rails converging toward a stylized blue star, against a sky graded in blue-gray. No figures, no landscape, just movement toward the starry sky. This is the poster that defines modern minimalism. A century later, it still inspires graphic studios around the world.
Normandie (1935)
For the Compagnie générale transatlantique. The ocean liner Normandie seen head-on, monumental, filling the entire vertical of the poster. The red funnels contrast with the black hull and the blue sea. Considered the finest maritime poster of the 20th century. Originals now sell at auction for between €30,000 and €80,000.
Wagons-Lits (1934)
For the Compagnie internationale des Wagons-Lits. A Cubist interior view of a night train. Cassandre simplifies the perspective so much that you could think you were looking at a Mondrian. And yet you instantly recognize the carriage, the berth, the passenger. It is the very definition of the modern poster: saying the essential with the minimum.
Dubonnet (1932)
3 posters in a series: Du, Dubo, Dubonnet. In each image, the drinker takes one more sip, and the word gradually appears on the poster. Cassandre invented sequential graphic storytelling, a direct ancestor of modern animated advertising.
Nicolas (1930)
A poster for Nicolas wines. The character Nectar with 10 bottles, Cubist yet recognizable. The French commercial poster had found its language.
The Cassandre grammar
3 principles structure all of Cassandre’s work.
Minimalism ahead of its time. Cassandre removes everything that is not essential. Where Mucha multiplies arabesques and Toulouse-Lautrec piles up details, Cassandre pares down. A successful poster, he said, is one you can read in under 2 seconds.
Cubist geometry. Cassandre cuts the world into planes, flat areas and simple shapes. He absorbed the Cubism of Picasso and Braque, but applied it to commerce, not to art for art’s sake. That is what sets him apart from all his contemporaries.
Typography as illustration. In Cassandre’s work, lettering is never added on: it is drawn at the same time as the image, in the same grammar. The word Normandie becomes a drawing of an ocean liner. The word Dubonnet drinks itself.
Why Cassandre still influences us
Cassandre is the bridge between the posters of the early century (Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Steinlen) and contemporary graphic design. Without him, no Bauhaus applied to advertising. No Swiss minimalism. No Apple commercials.
Today, his originals sell as major works of art. The Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris regularly devotes retrospectives to him. The École Supérieure des Arts Graphiques bears his name (ESAG Penninghen, formerly ESAG Cassandre).
Cassandre vs. Broders: 2 complementary schools
If you love posters, you probably find yourself torn between the 2 schools. Roger Broders and Cassandre represent the 2 poles of French poster art from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Broders embodies gentle, Mediterranean travel, with a discreet figure set against the landscape. His palette is terracotta and deep blue. His subjects are the harbors of the Var, the villages of Provence, the Alpine resorts.
Cassandre embodies conquering modernity, with the object (ocean liner, train, bottle) treated as an icon. His palette is more contrasted, his lines more geometric, his formats more radical.
For a gallery wall, you can combine the 2 schools, as long as you keep a consistent size or frame. A French Riviera Broders-style poster paired with a stylized Cassandre-style transport poster, in 2 identical frames, creates a striking visual dialogue.
Bringing the Cassandre spirit into your home
The Cassandre aesthetic is especially well suited to 3 rooms.
The office or library. An A2 portrait poster with a transport subject (train, ship, car). On a plain wall, it anchors the room without overloading it. Choose A1 if the room is larger than 15 m².
The modern entryway. A bold typographic poster (in the style of Étoile du Nord) above the console. Immediate impact, understated modernity.
The living room with contemporary furniture. A minimalist 3xA3 triptych for an exposed stone wall or a loft, with a saturated palette and stylized subjects.
To discover our interpretation of the great Art Deco destinations, see French Riviera, Travel, French cities.
To prepare your order, check the dimensions on the page of the poster you choose, as well as our shipping terms and our return terms.
Build this wall
3 posters from this article, at true scale
All 3 posters: 102,35 €
Frequently asked questions
You often ask us
Who was Cassandre?
Adolphe Jean Marie Mouron (1901-1968), known as Cassandre, was an illustrator and typographer of Ukrainian origin based in Paris. He revolutionized French commercial poster art between 1923 and 1940 with his minimalist Cubist compositions (Étoile du Nord, Normandie, Wagons-Lits, Dubonnet).
What are Cassandre’s most famous posters?
Étoile du Nord (1927), Normandie (1935), Wagons-Lits (1934), the Dubonnet series (1932), Nicolas (1930), Au Bûcheron (1923). 6 posters that define the aesthetic of the modern poster.
What is the difference between Cassandre and Roger Broders?
Broders embodies gentle Mediterranean travel, with a terracotta and blue palette and stylized landscapes. Cassandre embodies geometric modernity, with iconic objects (ocean liner, train) in flat Cubist color fields. The 2 represent the poles of French poster art from 1925 to 1940.
How much are original Cassandre posters worth today?
His originals sell at auction for between 5,000 and 80,000 euros. Normandie 1935 regularly reaches 30,000 to 80,000 euros for copies in good condition. Étoile du Nord 1927 sells for between 8,000 and 25,000 euros.
How can you bring the Cassandre spirit into your home?
3 options: an A2 or A1 poster in an office or library, a bold typographic poster in a modern entryway, or a minimalist 3xA3 triptych in a contemporary living room.
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