Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Otto Baumberger

Poster Collection 18

Otto Baumberger (1889–1961) was one of the first Swiss graphic artists to have a career that responds to the occupational title of “poster designer”. Early on, as an employee of Wolfensberger AG in Zurich, Baumberger acquired a thorough knowledge of lithographic technique and he designed more than two hundred posters, which helped to modernize the medium. Baumberger was far ahead of his time in recognizing fundamental aspects of consumer goods advertising. Although he did not create an actual style, he always sought the most adequate approach to conveying the message at hand. His original graphic creations led to a reduction bordering on abstraction, in which graphic and textual elements underwent an increasingly potent synthesis. Thus, in its variety, Baumberger’s work embodies and exemplifies the history of Swiss poster art in the first half of the twentieth century, as the painterly artist poster gradually evolved toward graphically oriented corporate design.

Otto Baumberger (1889–1961) was one of the first Swiss graphic artists to have a career that responds to the occupational title of “poster designer”. Early on, as an employee of Wolfensberger AG in Zurich, Baumberger acquired a thorough knowledge of lithographic technique and he designed more than two hundred posters, which helped to modernize the medium. Baumberger was far ahead of his time in recognizing fundamental aspects of consumer goods advertising. Although he did not create an actual style, he always sought the most adequate approach to conveying the message at hand. His original graphic creations led to a reduction bordering on abstraction, in which graphic and textual elements underwent an increasingly potent synthesis. Thus, in its variety, Baumberger’s work embodies and exemplifies the history of Swiss poster art in the first half of the twentieth century, as the painterly artist poster gradually evolved toward graphically oriented corporate design.

This book is part of the Poster Collection series. Get the complete series here

Edited by Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter

With an essay by Martin Heller

Design: Integral Lars Müller

16,5 x 24,0 cm, 6 ½ x 9 ½ in

96 pages, 120 illustrations

paperback

2008, 978-3-03778-129-6, German
English
CHF 25.00

Bettina Richter

Bettina Richter studied art history, German and Romance languages and literature in Heidelberg, Paris and Zurich, graduating with a dissertation on the anti-war graphics of Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen in 1996. From 1997 to 2006, Bettina Richter served as a research associate at the Poster Collection of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and was appointed its curator in 2006. In this capacity she has realized, among other exhibitions, “The Magic of Things” (2012), “Japanese Poster Artists—Cherry Blossom and Asceticism” (2014), “Protest!” (2018), and “Talking Bodies” (2023). From 2000 to 2005 she taught at the Zurich University of the Arts. She has published and lectured extensively on subjects related to the history of art and literature, as well as on posters. Since 2007 she has served as the editor of the series “Poster Collection”, by the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich.

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Ciné-Passion

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Poster Collection, vol. 36

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Contemporary Iran

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Poster Collection, vol. 35

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Niklaus Troxler

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Poster Collection, vol. 34

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

En Vogue

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Poster Collection, vol. 32

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Stop Motion

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Poster Collection, vol. 31

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Self-Promotion

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Poster Collection, vol. 30

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Herbert Leupin

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Poster Collection, vol. 28

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

The Hand / Die Hand

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Poster Collection, vol. 27

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Japan – Nippon

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Out of print
Poster Collection, vol. 26

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

In Series / In Serie

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Poster Collection, vol. 23

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Help!

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Poster Collection, vol. 20

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Christian Brändle (eds.)

Kopf an Kopf

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Poster Collection, vol. 19

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Christian Brändle (eds.)

Head to Head

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Poster Collection, vol. 19

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Otto Baumberger

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Poster Collection, vol. 18

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Bettina Richter (eds.)

Photo Graphics

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Poster Collection, vol. 17

Museum für Gestaltung Zürich (ed.)

Comix!

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Zürich–Milano

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Typo China

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Catherine Zask

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Handmade

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Armin Hofmann

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Donald Brun

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Poster Collection, vol. 2

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Revue 1926

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