?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
A. KRETSCHMANN (1897-1941) PKZ. 1924. 49 3/4x35 1/2 inches. Wolfsberg, Zurich. Condition A. PKZ is a men's clothing store founded in Zurich in 1881 by Paul Kehl (PKZ stands for Paul Kehl Zurich). When Kehl died in 1910, Karl Burger bought the company and it has remained in that family ever since. After 120 years, it is still one of the most important and dynamic clothiers in Switzerland, with branches all over the country. Much of its renown and longevity can be attributed to an almost century long dedication to creative poster advertising. They commissioned their first poster in 1908 from Ludwig Hohlwein, and continued commissioning the best artists, so that now, listing them would be like compiling a who's who of great Swiss graphic designers. However, merely being an artist chosen to work for PKZ did not ensure lasting recognition and fame. No biographical information about Kretschmann can be found, and this seems to be the only poster he ever designed. It is a visual symphony of olive, blue, black and red, that resonates from the border to the shadow cast by the dapper man. Lithe and elegant, it is a fitting touch that the color of the typography matches the young man's tie.
