JAN TSCHICHOLD (1902-1974) KONSTRUKTIVISTEN. 1937. 50 1/4x35 5/8 inches. Benno Schwabe & Co., Basel. Condition B+: creases in margins and image. Framed. A prolific practitioner, teacher and writer, Tschichold was one of the fathers of "new typography," which was, in fact, the title of a highly influential book he wrote in 1928. Son of a caligrapher, and a student at the Academy for Graphic Arts in Leipzig, Tschichold was influenced by both the Bauhaus and Russian constructivists like El Lissitsky. He moved to Munich in 1926 and continued teaching and designing. Most notable from these years is an exceptional series of posters he designed for the Phoebus Palace, a Munich movie theatre. Intense pressure from the Nazi party forced him to flee Germany, and he settled in Switzerland. He eventually moved to England where he was responsible for a complete redesign of Penguin Books. This poster, designed when he was living in Basel, gracefully advertises an exhibition of Constructivist artists. Paying a fitting tribute to many of the designers who influenced his work, Tschichold creates a finely-balanced, elegant typographic masterpiece. The fine, sans-serif lettering floats weightlessly against the white background, accentuated by an off-color circle, a geometric shape so often used by Avant-garde designers. He used a similar design concept on a self-promotional postcard in 1929, in which the circle bore his own name. On this poster the lettering is less bold, calling on the viewer to pause an extra moment to fully digest the information. Tschichold p. 68, Modern Poster p. 130.
