HANS THÖNI (1906-1980) II. GROSSER PREIS DER SCHWEIZ / FÜR AUTOMOBILE. 1935.
39x27 1/2 inches, 99x69 3/4 cm. Polygraphische Gesellschaft Laupen, Bern.
Condition A-: minor creases at edges; small tape stain over repaired tear at right edge; hinged to mount. Paper. Framed.
The Swiss Grand Prix - Grosser Preis der Schweiz - ran in Bremgarten, outside of the Swiss city of Bern, from 1934 until 1939, and then again after the war, from 1947 until 1954. Thöni's dynamic design, which skillfully crops the simplified race car giving it the visual effect of speeding toward the viewer, was used to promote this race between 1935 and 1937, with different text and color variations. In each, the speeding race car climbs into the hills with the Bern Minster Cathedral rising in the background against the dramatic Bernese Alps and the prominent Finsteraarhorn peak. This is the rare German version of the poster for the 2nd Grand Prix, in 1935 (the posters for the two subsequent years don't feature the green blur of trees in the foreground). Thöni studied at Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich and trained for four years in Paris before opening his studio in Bern. As a freelance graphic designer, he worked as an illustrator, stamp and exhibition designer and a member of the Schweizer Grafiker Verband. His major contribution to poster art is a series of posters for the Swiss railway, in which he experimented with photomontage and collage.

From the Aminoff / Faccini Estate.