Exactitude 1929

Curator: Looking at Pierre Fix-Masseau’s 1929 poster, “Exactitude,” now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I’m immediately struck by its monumental quality, even though it’s a relatively small print. The bold, almost severe lines of the locomotive dominate the scene. Editor: Yes, its boldness really leaps out at you! The imposing scale combined with the rigid geometry evokes an almost sterile, hyper-organized world. Is this “Exactitude” as precision or perhaps something more…oppressive? Curator: It's an intriguing question. The poster was, in essence, advertising for the French railway company État. After the First World War, posters became central to constructing a national identity, a form of visual rhetoric aiming to inspire confidence. “Exactitude” speaks to that cultural moment. Editor: The very clear implication is that travel by rail provides efficiency. Consider how rail travel transformed access across social divides, while simultaneously standardizing experiences to an arguably alienating degree, especially at the level of manual labor. Curator: The aesthetic echoes the machine age – clean lines, streamlined forms, everything meticulously designed and functioning according to a pre-set schedule. We can connect it to the larger art deco movement, embracing technology. But in terms of messaging, the state could show the populace that technology was controlled and on schedule. Editor: Absolutely. The almost brutal geometry hints at the price paid for this "progress". The anonymity of the small figure standing near the engine points towards this idea that technological advancements will marginalize humanity. And the railway symbolizes state-led control and social mobility that always served someone in power, particularly when labor was needed to grease the machine. Curator: Fix-Masseau did much more than present steel, angles, and power. This image participates in a grander history that tells how people interact in modern life by way of the rail. Editor: It truly speaks to the complex narratives we weave around technological advancement. Looking at "Exactitude," you realize how easily optimism can sit alongside a cold and calculated assessment of what we gain, and lose.