Herbert E. Stüssi
Hans Falk, the painter and poster artist, provided the concept which heads this article. This heading was on the poster which he sketched in 1949 and which served as an eye catcher for a exhibition of posters from the Schneckenburger collection. Today, this poster is the property of the poster collection of Zurich’s Art and Craft Museum. We are adapting this definition, because it is the most apt descreption of the poster.
It is quite true that the poster is also called the street’s wall picture and thus the poster wall is called picture gallery of the street or wall newspaper of the street. Or is there another expression than the one saying that the poster becomes the reflection of the times?
In the posters, which derive from a long span of time an which are offered to collectors and art lovers from home and abroad, political movements, social influencies, economical data, psychological moments and artistic tendencies are to be found. The astute eye – another name fore the poster! – formulates it’s critic of time.
At the same time the poster mirrors the situation of the residual graphic art. It becomes the visible expression of the standard reached by the advertising world at a given time.
The pictorial part of our auction catalogues catches these various streams and influencies in selected posters.
Thus, Hans Falk has provided the key note to the festive prelude. The hen and the parrot dominate his posters. Don’t they represent two characteristic features of the poster? At one time one of them prevails, at the other time the other one. Very seldom they keep the balance or give the poster the artistic tension through their contrast. The useful hen: she is to lay golden eggs for the principal. The handsome parrot: somehow he has to embody the aesthetic principal. Or are we wrong, and the parrot should call out well conceived publicity slogans? This clever symbol neither expresses more nor less, because the poster’s duties are limitless. The poster not only advertises everyday articles, but it may cover the entire life. It is particulary exciting to follow the artistic change of declarations which the reflection of times presents usin the poster. Even the earliest examples do not show any print-technical faults. But they do not nekessarily produce a figurative persuasive power. It required the departure from the simple “worship of the reality”, the alienation from realism, which ignored the nature of the poster, indistinctive between pure and applied picture. These illustrating productions fulfilled the poster’s duty only superficial. The independent internal duty and the law, which governs the new publicity means had yet to be found. Many good artist was unable to depart from the realistic presentation, instead of presenting the true symbol. Some earlier posters in the auction’s offer are proof of this situation. People used to have enough time to gaze at them in the gas-lit streets.
After the First World War new hypothesis were present. Electricity war here. Tramways drove through the streets. Electric light fell on the poster pillar. It was the end of leisurely viewing. It was essential that a new picture technique was to be developed in order to reach the individual. “La fin du siècle” is the expression used to visualise the great change of poster art in France. This had its radiation to Western Switzerland. The German style inspired the face of pioneer posters, as produced by German speaking Swiss printers in the first decade after the turn of the century. Charming witnesses of that period are for instance Carl Moos’ posters.
The change of style from realism to symbolism with strong Swiss character was to be seen in the monumental work by Ferdinand Hodler. This influenced the poster, the “little brother of the mural painting”. However, the poster does not blame humanity’s large objects, but with similar means such as the mural painting it is able to show everyday “condition humaine” to bring middle class busy usefulness to the sober Swiss sense. The styles of mural paintings and posters meet in the clever limitation of the essential and the art of leaving out. Many an old example is proof for this. An impressive picture shorthand is present. A message is put into a sign. This sign language works fast and can be understood immediately. What do these abbreviations achieve? The dialogue between producer and consumer starts at once.
Numerous posters of the first twenty years of our century went down in history. The signatures of Burkhard Mangold, Emile Cardinaux, Cuno Amiet or Maurice Barraud are borne on many works which can be taxed as revolutionary signal an program. A barrier was broken, a new style was found. A new starting point for many masters of posters who step their own path of presentation. Emile Cardinaux is joined by Wilhelm Friedrich Burger, Ernst Emil Schlatter, Otto Baumberger and also the alpine painters Hans Beat Wieland and Eduard Stiefel. These artists gave impulses for poster-fitted works to a whole generation of commercial artists. The younger ones accepted this new knowledge of expressing the line and the coloured surface. The approach between free and applied art was perfect. The variety of ideas and realisation, which proved that the poster is a reflection of times is found in thematic groups.
Gottfried Keller could be mentioned in two senses with his “Kleider machen Leute”, in union with the special auction “Fashion”, also with “Everyday’s large and small items”, and a third one ought to bear the pantagrulic title of “Eating and Drinking”. Here we would find the heading “Exhibitions advertise through good posters”. “To the ballot box, voters!” would be a guide to election posters, and “No misery without help” would be an appropriate escort for collection posters. Another group trying to kidnap us from everyday life would be entitled “The happiness of travel” or “Get out into the open”.
The auction’s exhibits illustrate an interesting time history and cultural history. In its entirety they are an important contribution to the efforts towards the general promotion and the reputation of our Swiss poster trade.
The common achievement of the artistic creator, the quality conscious reproducer and printer would not be possible without the insight, that every poster represents a special case. In addition, a tasteful and artistic function is attached to it.
The poster pillar takes over the duty of a gallery, both in the country as well as in small towns, where visitors are shown the coloured presentation. The impulses produced by the free art are again to be seen in the everyday graphicart and in particular in the poster in an easily understandable way for every spectator. Thereby we meet solutions which become the expression of a new unity of art and life.
We mentioned already that the poster grasps the whole life and that an artistic change may be seen through it. Where else can this be documented more emphatic than in the world of fashion and textile? A few centuries lie between the two severe and yet festive posters for men’s outfit of PKZ and the fragrant, charming impressions of Bally and Grieder.
No doubt, modern life would be poorer without the poster. The diversity of the poster art cannot be ignored. The street’s picture book contains many pages. Its pages are not made for eternity but for the moment (a glance of the eye of passer-bys).
Undeservedly those posters showing the small and large things of everyday life are soon forgotten. Let us therefore turn over the pages of this group, where zips, notepaper and washing powder, sewing silk, coke and cosmetics are being advertised. What attracts the attention first? The high quality of each poster, being the symbol for the product’s quality. There is a double perception in this: quality is the best and cheapest advert for the product as well as the publicity resources. When considering the creative aspect of these everyday product posters, the surprise effect in idea coupled with a pinch of irony is always prevailing. In the case of brand products we find a refreshing objectivity, with devotion and eminent skill of the graphic artists of the “Basel School” such as Burkhard Mangold, Niklaus Stoecklin, Donald Brun, Herbert Leupin and Fritz Bühler.
Admittedly, in the past to – historic examples in the pictorial section are proof! – different characteristic components were united in the same poster. Looking at it today, we would certainly talk about involuntary humour. Because the good exemples of true humour and healthy comicality tought us a differentiated view and proved that a good sense of humour can attract and obviously bring success to the advertiser. Donald Brun’s posters could be mentioned in this respect.
Pierre Gauchat, who died far too early, had the envious talent to connect elegance with convincing objectivity in a clever alliance of picture and slogan in the poster. To divert from everyday, to put other thoughts in the foreground for a moment, have a happy twinkle ready – this too is the poster’s duty. Who would not like to learn something about food and drink and about things around it?
With Celestino Piatti’s posters the narrative anekdote is often replaced by the accurate detailed drawing. From a distance the strong black line underlines very often a large effect to the thematic aperçu.
Herbert Leupin uses styles and manners as pure means and often cannot deny his personal signature. He often follows Raymond Savignac’s (the French artist) words: “I belive that people are so bored by their life that publicity has the duty to entertain.”
The fact that we cannot escape from the poster and that we do not want to be without it, that the streets would be empty without it, its pictorial language has become a very important advertising faktor. Even the sophisticated poster forces us to take notice of it.
The number of good over-average posters is in no other country as great as in Switzerland. Due to a long lasting battle the artistic quality was improved. The annual awards of the best posters are a useful support of these efforts. I goes without saying that the displayed posters which call the visitor to look at, are well represented in the auction catalogues. The selected posters are not merely crying out for the highest possible votes, but a graphically convincing appeal. The straightforwardness of the expression and appeal are preserved. Today posters calling for donations for the relief of distress give no space for cheap sentimentality. There is no drastic presentation of misfortune but help is sought with work which awakens our sympathy.
For many posters the expression of the strict description may be pronounced. The artist gives a symbol instead of a pure picture. He describes an expression.
The group of traffic posters too gives in abundance a cross-section through the time of which the poster gives a true reflection. The artists posters by Alois Carigiet, Max Gubler or Ernst Morgenthaler from the thirties, the fourties and the fifties want us to understand them ambiguously. “Into the open by rail” or “Away from the road by rail”. With the change of times the way of thinking changed too. In this technical age mankind does not want to be reminded of the technique, but rather to escape from it for a while! The spiritual assertion has changed. But we are pleased to state that the sympathy for the artists who are always asked to reproduce the beauty of a landscape and the joy of travelling remains.
When the artist changes from the painting to the poster he will never deny his own design of forms and shapes. In spite of its strict lines we are always being surprised again by the freedom of the arts world. As an artist they managed to remind us of the spirit and the charm of a village or a region. The circle is closed. The posters represent a time reflector. In the abundance of possibilities we find the artistic streams and changes of tendencies, forms of expressions, fashion tendencies: from art nouveau to Hodler’s reformation, from a moderate impressionism to expressionism, to the new reality and the new unobjectiveness. Graphic straight manner alternates with artistic manner of representation, in order to discover all stages of abstraction. It was also evident that figure photography influences the poster creation. Does this not show the beginning of a certain impoverishment, whereby in the end that word proves right that artistic creation – also in the field of photography – last longest
|
