Henrion wrote: ‘Cassandre was the greatest and most influential poster designer of this century.’ Adolphe Mouron left the Ukraine in 1915 for France and studied briefly at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Julian. Cassandre was his artistic pseudonym. In 1923–36 he produced an enormous and stunning range of posters for clients in France, the Netherlands and Great Britain. A painter at heart, he was strongly influenced by Derain and Léger. Cassandre called posters a kind of telegram between the company and the public. His work was powerful and lyrical at the same time.
He also worked for the theatre and became a teacher. After a retrospective exhibition at NY MoMA, he signed a contract with Harper’s Bazaar and spent two winters in New York. Influenced by Balthus in 1936, he then devoted much of his energy to painting. Cassandre made three exclusive typefaces for his friend Charles Peignot: Acier, Bifur and Peignot. In 1959 he created typefaces for Olivetti. He became an Officier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1962.