ART et ACTION

Les Saintes Heures de Jeanne D’Arc.  Presentees par G. Polti...  Woodcut and letterpress on paper designed by Claude Autant-Lara.  Broadside, 508 x 359, backed on linen.  [Paris: Art et Action, 1923].

A fine example of this broadside advertising a performance by the experimental theater group, Art et Action.  Founded in Paris in 1919 by actress Louise Lara and her husband, the architect Édouard Autant, the group created left-leaning productions influenced by Soviet Theater.  The posters advertising the performances featured design elements pulled from the avant-garde movements throughout Europe.  The present example was designed by Louise and Edouard’s son, Claude, and features handsome san-serif type juxtaposed against primitive woodcuts that evoke the work of German Expressionists.