Herbert Matter

By: Nicole Redemann

About Herbert

• Born on April 25, 1907 in Engelberg, Switzerland. He died on May 8, 1984 in New York.

• He was a photographer and graphic designer who worked for Harper’s Baazar and Vogue.

• He attended Ecole des Beaux-art in Switzerland where he studied painting.

• He then went on to study at the Academic Moderne in Paris.

• Herbert began working in 1932 as a designer and photographer for the Swiss National Tourist office.

• He modified the scale of images and the placement of typography, which made his posters have a high contrast.

Life with Mercedes

• In 1941 he married Mercedes Carles.

• After getting married, Herbert worked for Container Company of America (CCA) where he designed posters and advertisements.

• In 1946, he began working as a designing and advertising consultant for Knoll.

• From 1952-1976 he was a professor of photography at Yale University.

Mercedes in Motion (1939)

Technique

• Photomontage

The process and result of making a composite photograph by cutting and joining two or more photographs into an illusion of an unreal object.

Awards

• In 1977, he was elected to the New York Arts director club Hall of Fame.

• In 1980, he received the Guggenheim fellowship in Photography.

• In 1983, he received the American Institute Graphic Arts (AIGA) medal.

Harper’s Baazar Magazine Cover (June 1940)

Visit Engelberg, Switzerland Poster

She and her shadow

(1930’s to early 1940’s)

Woman with Beads(1948)

References

• http://freshtightdesigns.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/herbert_matters_bazaar.jpg

• http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ugjS4Nx4HYY/UKKnnf19SwI/AAAAAAAAAVI/Q_ODMEDrV1E/s1600/herbert-matter-vogue-cover-january-1948.jpg

• http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/55/f2/8f/55f28fc0e4234c66886571b846a9d5ac.jpg

• http://www.stephendaitergallery.com/images/display/Herbert_Matter_She_and_her_Shadow_3235_418.jpg

• http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3w9L4ZyjBco/UKKr9YBu1jI/AAAAAAAAAN4/M_9LdJUOV70/s1600/matter-woman-with-beads.jpg

• http://thinkingform.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/herbert_matter_photo.jpg

• http://artblogbybob.blogspot.com/2008/03/man-and-myth.html

• http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/60/6070/R2JD100Z/posters/herbert-matter-brides-cover-february-1942.jpg

• http://leclownlyrique.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/herbert-matter-erstes-portrc3a4t-paris-1928.jpg

• http://herbertmatter.org/welcome/posters