Mary (1900) Francis Sold at Auction Prices

FRANCIS BERNARD (1900-1979)Dietrich.

FRANCIS BERNARD (1900-1979) Dietrich. To advertise Dietrich's 'Diamond' radiators, Bernard creates a 2-sheet poster with a geometric fellow ensconced in a moderne club chair. The photomontage appliance next to the chair emits a radiant glow along with a stream of text that circles around the figure's head like a halo. It's a little rhyming slogan in French, that is that translates as 'Buy a Diamond and save money,' as he points to the money pocket inside his jacket to assure us that it's true. In fact, the text at bottom promises savings of 150-350 francs on our monthly heating bills. No wonder he's smiling. A textbook graphic solution to a design challenge from a graphic designer of the first rank whom critic Alain Weill terms 'unjustly unknown. His geometric studies and photomontages are in a class with Cassandre or Carlu' (Deco Affiches, p. 114). Editions Paul-Martial, Paris