# Adolphe Mouron Cassandre artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/adolphe-mouron-cassandre/
Profile generated: 2026-04-30T09:24:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1901-01-24
- Death date: 1968-06-17
- Nationality: French
- Movements: Art Deco, Purism, Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism
- Common media: commercial posters (lithograph), typeface design, painting, illustration

## About Adolphe Mouron Cassandre

Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1901–1968) was a French graphic designer, poster artist, and typeface designer whose work defined the visual language of twentieth-century advertising. Born in Kharkov to French parents and active in Paris from the early 1920s, he adopted the pseudonym A. M. Cassandre in 1922 and quickly became the foremost poster artist of the interwar era. His boldly simplified compositions for clients such as the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, and Dubonnet drew on Cubist spatial logic, Purist reduction, and cinematic perspective to transform commercial messaging into iconic imagery. He won the Grand Prix at the 1925 Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris and later designed the enduring Yves Saint Laurent monogram. Cassandre's typefaces — including Peignot and Bifur — further extended his influence into typography. His estate is maintained by his descendants at cassandre.fr.

## Common works and media

Collectors most frequently encounter Cassandre in the form of large-format colour lithographic posters for ocean liners (Normandie, Atlantique), railways (Nord Express, Étoile du Nord), and consumer brands (Dubonnet, Cinzano). Smaller-format prints, exhibition posters, and advertising proofs also appear at auction. In addition to posters, Cassandre produced original paintings, stage designs, typeface specimens, and logo commissions. The Yves Saint Laurent monogram, Bifur and Peignot typefaces, and Harper's Bazaar covers represent his broader design output that may surface in graphic-design and works-on-paper sales.

## Market and appraisal context

Cassandre's auction market is deep and well established, with 663 recorded lots and 360 priced results spanning from July 1998 to April 2026. The price distribution is wide but instructive: the median sits at $3,800, the 25th percentile at $1,187, and the 75th percentile at $10,000, with a recorded maximum of $162,500. This dispersion reflects the broad range of material that appears — from later-edition or reproduction posters in the low hundreds to iconic original interwar lithographs achieving five and six figures. Liquidity is healthy, with 32 lots offered in the trailing 12 months (down from 50 in the prior period), consistent with a mature but still active market. The specialist houses Swann Auction Galleries and Poster Auctions International dominate offerings, with supporting appearances at Christie's, Bonhams, Artcurial, and Dreweatts 1759 for premium lots. Bruce Teleky and RoGallery account for repeat mid-tier offerings. The strongest results cluster around original 1920s–1930s travel and beverage posters (Normandie, Étoile du Nord, Dubonnet, Café Chat Noir), while posthumous or "d'après" editions and smaller-format works trade at substantially lower levels.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Cassandre's auction market is deep and well established, with 663 recorded lots and 360 priced results spanning from July 1998 to April 2026. The price distribution is wide but instructive: the median sits at $3,800, the 25th percentile at $1,187, and the 75th percentile at $10,000, with a recorded maximum of $162,500. This dispersion reflects the broad range of material that appears — from later-edition or reproduction posters in the low hundreds to iconic original interwar lithographs achieving five and six figures. Liquidity is healthy, with 32 lots offered in the trailing 12 months (down from 50 in the prior period), consistent with a mature but still active market. The specialist houses Swann Auction Galleries and Poster Auctions International dominate offerings, with supporting appearances at Christie's, Bonhams, Artcurial, and Dreweatts 1759 for premium lots. Bruce Teleky and RoGallery account for repeat mid-tier offerings. The strongest results cluster around original 1920s–1930s travel and beverage posters (Normandie, Étoile du Nord, Dubonnet, Café Chat Noir), while posthumous or "d'après" editions and smaller-format works trade at substantially lower levels.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these 663 auction records as a comparable-sale baseline, filtering by medium (original lithographic poster vs. later edition vs. maquette), date of execution, dimensions, condition, and commissioning client. An accurate appraisal requires the owner to provide clear photographs of the full sheet (showing margins, fold lines, and any restoration), the printed signature or hand-signature, edition or printer's marks, and documented provenance. Cassandre posters are frequently confused with later restrikes and reproductions; the lot records here include both original period printings and explicitly catalogued "d'après" copies, so any appraisal must first confirm authenticity — ideally through the Cassandre estate (cassandre.fr) or a recognised poster specialist — before applying comparable pricing. For original interwar posters in good condition, the P50–P75 range ($3,800–$10,000) is a reasonable starting band, with premium iconography (Normandie, Café Chat Noir, Étoile du Nord) potentially exceeding the P75 threshold. Condition adjustments for fold lines, marginal losses, backing, or colour fading can shift value by 30–60 percent in either direction.

### Valuation factors

- Original period lithograph vs. later edition or d'après reproduction — the single largest value determinant
- Iconography: travel and transportation posters (ocean liners, railways) and the Dubonnet campaigns command the highest prices
- Condition: fold lines, toning, margin trimming, tears, backing, and restoration history can shift value by 30–60%
- Date of execution: 1920s–1930s interwar originals are materially more valuable than post-war or posthumous editions
- Format and scale: large-format posters and window cards (e.g., Café Chat Noir at $24,130) outperform smaller prints
- Provenance and authentication: estate-confirmed or specialist-catalogued lots achieve stronger results
- Auction house tier: specialist houses (Swann, Poster Auctions International, Christie's) tend to catalogue more carefully and attract higher bids

### Collector notes

- If you own a Cassandre poster, check whether it is an original period lithograph (look for stone-litho texture, printer's marks, and paper stock consistent with the era) or a later offset reproduction. Signed maquettes and gouaches are far rarer than editioned posters and can sell for multiples of the poster price. The most liquid segment is mid-tier travel posters ($3,000–$10,000), where Swann and Poster Auctions International offer regular buying opportunities. Buyers should be cautious with lots catalogued as "d'après" — these are after-the-fact reproductions and trade at a fraction of original prices. If you are selling, obtaining a condition report and, for high-value items, a letter of authenticity from the Cassandre estate can materially improve the realised price. Recent volume has softened (32 lots in the past year vs. 50 the year before), which may indicate slightly reduced supply rather than weakening demand.

### Market caveats

- The price distribution spans $10 to $162,500; broad ranges like this reflect fundamentally different tiers of material (reproductions through to museum-quality originals) and should not be averaged.
- Several recent lots are explicitly catalogued as "d'après" (after Cassandre), meaning they are copies or later editions, not original works by the artist — these drag the low end of the distribution.
- Some lots in the source pack have no realised price, which may indicate buy-ins, withdrawals, or post-sale private transactions not reflected in the data.
- Auction records are denominated in both USD and EUR; currency conversion at sale date would be needed for direct comparison.
- The source pack does not include category labels from the auction houses themselves; the categories listed are inferred from observed lot titles and the artist's known mediums.
- Cassandre's visual language was widely imitated by contemporaries; unsigned or unattributed posters require specialist authentication and may not be by Cassandre at all.
- Posthumous restrikes and authorised re-editions circulate in the market and can be difficult to distinguish from originals without close examination of paper, ink, and printer's marks.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/adolphe-mouron-cassandre/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-cafe-chat-noir-window-card-1932-91-c-492a469705
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-venezia-1951-208-c-95ae88130c
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-normandie-1935-193-c-afa0100ef9
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-d-apres-dubbonet-vin-tonique-circa-1956-94-c-bb49947c38
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-paris-1935-92-c-37fd10a44f
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-d-apres-dubo-dubon-dubbonet-circa-1948-93-c-0bfe71f016
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-champions-du-monde-1930-90-c-409bd71cf6
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-statendam-1124c-c-5227bab0d2
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-cassandre-vin-tonique-au-quinquina-vintage-advertising-poster-304n-c-4642a8be28
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-cassandre-d-apres-pseudonyme-d-adolphe-edouard-jean-marie-mouron-1901-1968-ne-a-kharkov-165-c-0918e77b01
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-adolphe-mouron-cassandre-french-1901-1968-164-c-5786fa180a

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from museum, library-authority, and estate sources with public auction records, auction-house cataloguing, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lot data when those records are available. For Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, this page draws on MoMA, the RKD, VIAF, the official Cassandre estate, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/15770
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/1015
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q278945
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/44324012/
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (estate): https://www.cassandre.fr/
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (estate): https://www.cassandre-france.com/
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandre
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80015569