Herbert MATTER

Herbert Matter (1907-1984), a Swiss graphic artist and photographer is considered to be the founder of photomontage. He studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Geneva before joining the 'Académie de l'Art Moderne' in Paris in 1927 under Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant. From 1929, he worked as a graphic designer for the famous Deberny et Peignot agency in Paris, where he met A.M. Cassandre and Le Corbusier. Together they produced several posters and architectural designs for exhibitions. Matter was also greatly influenced by Russian constructivist artists, in particular the photomontages of El Lissitzky; experimental films of the Bauhaus and the surrealism of Man Ray.

In 1925, he produced his first known poster for his home town of Engelberg, followed in 1928 by two other posters, one for Engelberg in summer and the other for the famous Zurich shop PKZ (September 1928). The influence of Cubism can be seen in all three of these works.

In 1930, he created the interior design for his family's tea room, Tea Room Matter, in Engelberg, a design inspired by the Bauhaus.

Returning to Switzerland in 1932, as his residence documents were not in order to stay in France, he worked as a photographer and created advertising leaflets, first for Engelberg and then for the Swiss National Tourist Office. He then integrated photography into advertising graphic designs (1934-1936).

His posters for the Swiss Tourist Office mixed photographs of the Alps with faces of young people, Swiss symbols and typographic elements.

Matter played with perspective, contrasts of light and a reduced colour palette. His posters are dynamic, youthful and cheerful. Through photomontage, the viewer can identify with the character depicted.

Matter created a new aesthetic and presented the viewer with a modern world. In doing so, he reinvented the Swiss tourist poster.

In 1936, Matter immigrated to the United States and worked as a photographer for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. In 1939, he designed the interior of the Swiss pavilion at the New York World Fair, in which he presented the image of a dynamic Switzerland by creating a monumental three-dimensional photomontage.

Matter, a complete and avant-garde artist:
As a graphic artist, he designed the visual identity of major American companies such as the New Haven Railroad, the Guggenheim Museum and Knoll International; as a photographer, he documented the work of Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Alberto Giacometti; and as a film director, he made a film about Calder. He also taught photography and graphic design at Yale University for over 20 years.

In 1982, he was named Honorary Royal Designer for Industry in the United Kingdom and in 1983 he was awarded the Gold Medal by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) for the achievement of his work.

Thanks to his photomontage, overprints and use of negatives, Herbert Matter has revolutionised the making of poster. In his works, he creates an impression of speed through the use of arrows, straight lines, grids and vivid flat colours. His innovative and iconic works left their mark on 20th-century design.