Poster, Etoile du Nord, 1927

A.M. Cassandre (Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron) Etoile du Nord vintage poster 1927 42.375 h x 29.5 w in (108 x 75 cm) The North Star was the name of a Paris-to-Amsterdam express; Cassandre gave it glamour by catching the purely sensual enjoyment of rail travel: the rhythm of the wheels, the fascination of the endless perspectives of converging tracks, and the North Star itself.

In their book on the artist, Brown and Reinhold claimed that this poster "May be his most audacious... Cassandre solves the problem of having to advertise a daytime service that uses a nocturnal image as its name. He achieves his solution by using the somewhat surreal device of turning a night sky into the ground of the poster and having the star hover above it. In what could have been a static arrangement, the rails are laid out so that they imply forward movement... Even though such an arrangement is mechanically false... it is precisely because of it that the poster attains a dynamic realism more compelling than 'reality itself,' which is why Etoile du Nord is one of Cassandre's best images" (p. 13).

Hillier declares this work "his masterpiece," and we couldn't agree more: it's a truly mesmerizing achievement, and arguably one of the best posters ever created. Hachard, Paris Provenance: Collection of William Crouse Exhibited: Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration, 31 August 2025 - 29 March 2026, Sarasota Art Museum, Florida Literature: The Art Deco Poster, Crouse, p. 255; Mouron, 22; Brown & Reinhold, p. 37; Cassandre/Suntory, 48; Cassandre/BN, 14; Cassandre/Weill, p. 55; Deco Affiches, p. 25; Avant Garde, p. 158; Timeless Images, 105; Weill, p. 199; Modern Poster, 154; Art Deco, p. 59; Moderno Frances, p. 161; PAI-LXXXVI, 172 This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.