A. M. Cassandre bio courtesy Linotype Gallery

A. M. Cassandre (real name: Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron) – born 24. 1. 1901 in Kharkov, Ukraine, died 17. 6. 1968 in Paris, France – Poster designer, type designer, painter, set-designer, teacher.

1918: studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, at the Académie Julian and with painter Lucien Simon in his studio in Paris. 1921: starts designing posters. 1922: has his first studio in Montparnasse in Paris, signs his works for the first time with the pseudonym "Cassandre". 1930: starts producing work for the Nicolas company. 1933: produces his first work as a set-designer. Teaches at the Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs. 1934–35: teaches at the Ecole d'Arts Graphiques. 1935: designs posters for French, Swiss ad Italian clients. 1936: contract with "Harper's Bazaar" magazine, New York , for various covers. 1939: returns to France. Works for the theater and the ballet and produces work in the field of free painting. 1948: co-founder of the AGI (Alliance Graphique International). Until 1959 he produces sets for Aix-en-Provence , the Comédie Française, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and for stages in Florence. 1962: is made an officer of the Legion of Honor. 1963: designs Yves Saint-Laurent's trademark. With his combination of applied and free design, Cassandre was a model in the field of graphic design for several decades.

Exhibitions: retrospective poster exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art , New York (1936), Galerie René Drouin (paintings, 1942), Galerie Motte, Geneva (1966), Galerie Janine Hao, Paris (1966), Rijksakademie in Amsterdam (1967).

Fonts: Bifur (1929), Acier (1930), Acier Noir (1936), Peignot (1937), Touraine (with Charles Peignot, 1947), Cassandre (1968).

Publications include: R. K. Brown, S. Reinhold "The Poster Art of A. M. Cassandre", New York 1979; Henri Mouron "Cassandre", Munich 1985.

* TYPOGRAPHY – An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Throughout History by Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott (Editor), Bernard Stein, published by Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.

Peignot is a trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, which may be registered in certain jurisdictions, exclusively licensed through Linotype Library GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.