Let's Yak About Art--Adolphe Mouron Cassandre

I'm taking a graphic arts class at a local community college, so I can learn how to use the computer program InDesign. I'm a complete n00b when it comes to graphic arts software. This is one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken. For the first three times we met as a class, I was looking for the teacher to throw me a bone, but the other students, most proficient in Pagemaker, ate up the classroom carcass he offered each class. Last night, I finally snatched a piece for myself-- I started to retain the information I picked up and was able to use it (somewhat).

In celebration of my scholastic achievement, today's featured artist is Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1901-1968). He was a graphic artist,typesetter, artist and set designer. According to the Wikipedia, the posters he designed for Dubonnet wine were some of the first ever created specifically to be viewed by people driving in cars.

The graphics back then were hand drawn before they were printed. His posters and cover desgins were typically art deco, although cubism and surreal influences are apparent in his work as well. Take a look at the poster he did for Ford. I'm not a fan of the Ford company, but this graphic is gorgeous. The poster he created for Golden Club cigarettes is classic art deco design.

I'm having trouble creating an oval with the aid of a computer, while Cassandre created beautiful copy by hand, which held up so well in mass production. That's a unique art perspective, in my opinion. Let's end with a Cassndre quote featured on Art Icons:

"A poster, unlike a painting, is not, and is not meant to be, a work easily distinguished by its 'manner' - a unique specimen conceived to satisfy the demanding tastes of a single more or less enlightened art lover. It is meant to be a mass-produced object existing in thousands of copies - like a fountain-pen or automobile. Like them, it is designed to answer certain strictly material needs. It must have a commercial fashion."~ Adolphe Mouron Cassandre.