Apr 24 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2702 -

Sale 2702 - Lot 70

Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000

HERBERT MATTER (1907-1984)

PKZ. 1928.

50x35½ inches, 127x90¼ cm. Wolfsberg, Zurich.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears at top edge. Framed.

Herbert Matter, although primarily recognized for his photomontage travel posters, had a very strong artistic background. From 1928 to 1932, as a student in Paris at the Academie Moderne, he was taught by Ozenfant and Ferdnand Leger, and he also worked with A.M. Cassandre. It was during these years that PKZ, who were always seeking out talented new designers to promote their company, commissioned him to design a poster. Matter here shows off his facility with design and cubism. The way the space is organized, the ways the colors are handled and the geometrical, angular, eye-catching image show "the full impact of [Matter's] encounter with Leger," both in composition and execution (Matter p. 25). In fact, "the gradation of those forms that are supposed to appear three-dimensional, is perfected by Matter in the poster in a way that is almost exactly like Leger" (ibid); the youthful artist has fully assimilated the lessons of his mentors.

Crouse p. 148, Matter p. 37, Art Deco Graphics p. 85, Encyclopedie de l'Affiche p. 132, Weill / Art Deco p. 275, Muller-Brockmann 80, Made in Switzerland p. 108.
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