Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born American photographer and graphic designer. He was born in Engelberg, on April 25, 1907. Matter studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva and the Académie Moderne in Paris with Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant. He worked with Adolphe Mouron Cassandre, Le Corbusier and Deberny & Peignot. In 1932, he returned to Zürich, where he designed posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office and Swiss resorts. The travel posters won instant international acclaim for his pioneering use of photomontage combined with the typeface. He went to the United States in 1936 and was hired by legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch. He soon started working for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and other magazines. In the 1940s, photographers, including Irving Penn, used Vogue’s studios at 480 Lexington Avenue for shooting the advertising work commissioned by outside clients. The practice was at first tolerated but by 1950 it was banned because it interfered with Vogue’s interests and was a severe handicap to their editorial operations. In response to this, Matter and three other Condé Nast photographers, Serge Balkin, Constantin Joffé and Geoffrey Baker left to establish Studio Enterprises Inc. in the former House & Garden studio on 37th Street. From 1946–66, Matter was a design consultant with Knoll Associates and worked closely with Charles and Ray Eames. From 1952–76, he was a professor of photography at Yale University and from 1958–68 he served as design consultant to Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He was elected to the New York Art Directors Club Hall of Fame in 1977, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in photography in 1980 and the American Institute of Graphic Arts medal in 1983. As a photographer, Matter won acclaim for his purely visual approach. A master technician, he used every method available to achieve his vision of light, form and texture. Manipulation of the negative, retouching, cropping, enlarging and light drawing are some of the techniques he used to achieve the fresh form he sought in his still lifes, landscapes, nudes and portraits. As a filmmaker, he directed two films on his friend Alexander Calder, namely Sculptures and Constructions in 1944 and Works of Calder with music by John Cage for the Museum of Modern Art in 1950. Close friends of Matter and his wife Mercedes were the painters Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, fellow Swiss photographer Robert Frank and Alberto Giacometti. Matter's wife Mercedes was the daughter of the American modernist painter Arthur Beecher Carles, and was herself the chief founder of the New York Studio School. “The absence of pomposity was characteristic of this guy”, said another designer, Paul Rand, about Matter. His creative life was devoted to narrowing the gap between the so-called fine and applied arts. Matter died on May 8, 1984, in Southampton, New York.
$1,749
1974 original poster for the retrospective exhibition of Alberto Giacometti
By Herbert Matter
Located in PARIS, FR
The 1974 original poster for the retrospective exhibition of Alberto Giacometti at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York is a remarkable piece that blends fine art and masterf...
Linen, Paper, Lithograph
Price Upon Request
Girl Covered with Jewelry, circa 1940
By Herbert Matter
Located in New York, NY
Unsigned
Silver Gelatin
Mission Wall, San Ildefonso, NM
By Morley Baer
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This print is signed in pencil on the front of the mount and stamped on the back of the mount. Despite Morley Baer’s adherence to the West Coast landscape tradition, his interests i...
Silver Gelatin
Beatles Yellow Submarine Pop Art Poster, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Beatles Yellow Submarine Movie poster after Peter Max Peter Max is a German-American artist known for his colourful, psychedelic pop art, whi...
Lithograph, Linen
$8,000
H 21.5 in W 25.5 in
"Business-Men's Class, Y.M.C.A." George Bellows, Ashcan School Print
By George Wesley Bellows
Located in New York, NY
George Bellows Business-Men's Class, Y.M.C.A, 1916 Signed, numbered "No. 41" and titled lower margin Lithograph on wove paper 11 1/2 x 17 1/8 inches Edition of 64 Provenance: Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York Private Collection, Ohio Literature: Mason, 20. After his arrival from Columbus, Ohio in 1904, Bellows lived at the West Side YMCA. It was there that he met Eugene Speicher, another aspiring young artist who was to become his lifelong friend. Always interested in the anatomy of the human body, Bellows often satirized the various types who, while leading a sedentary life, feel compelled to devote a portion of their daily routine to physical self-improvement. Throughout his brief but illustrious career, George Wesley Bellows created striking scenes that documented ordinary American life in all its beauty and banality. Considered an American Realist, the artist eschewed embellishment, finding inspiration in the gritty boroughs of New York City, the rocky coastline of Maine, and, later, in his friends and family. Bellows garnered early recognition for his arresting portrayals of illegal prizefighting, dramatic works executed in dark tonal palettes that underscore the brutality of the violent sport. Bellows’ elderly Methodist parents hoped their son might pursue the ministry, a calling the extroverted athlete never received. The Columbus native competed on the baseball team at Ohio State University and also served as an illustrator for the college yearbook. In the fall of 1904—just months shy of his expected graduation—Bellows defied his father’s wishes and boarded a train to New York City in hopes of becoming a magazine illustrator like his idols Howard Chandler Christy and Charles Dana Gibson. Before leaving, he reportedly turned down an offer to play professional baseball with the Cincinnati Reds...
Paper, Lithograph
$2,500
H 32 in W 24 in
Richard Corman - Jean-Michel Basquiat 1984 print, hand signed numbered by Corman
By Richard Corman
Located in New York, NY
Richard Corman Jean-Michel Basquiat 1984 (Red), 2020 Offset lithograph poster on color archival pigment paper Signed and numbered 2/100 by Richard Corman in silver sharpie on the fro...
Archival Paper, Lithograph, Offset
$2,450
H 10 in W 8 in D 0.065 in
Art Critic (Head Extended on Spring Before Post War Painting)
By Henry Rox 1
Located in Camden, ME
Henry Rox Art Critic (Head Extended on Spring Before Abstract Painting) c. 1948 Vintage silver gelatin print 8 x 10 inches Printed c. 1948 Estate stamp verso This 8 × 10 inch vintag...
Silver Gelatin
$420
H 28 in W 40 in
Mediterranean Seascape, Nautical Cyanotype on Watercolor Paper, Blueprint
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted limited edition cyanotype. "Mediterranean Blue Sea Waves" is a handmade cyanotype print of the subtle tidal flow moving in on the Mediterranean Sea. ...
Emulsion, Watercolor, Rag Paper, Lithograph
$1,800
H 11 in W 12 in D 2 in
Limited Signed Deluxe Monograph with Slipcase (signed & numbered by Sam Francis)
By Sam Francis
Located in New York, NY
SAM FRANCIS: Limited Signed Deluxe Edition (Hand signed and numbered by Sam Francis), 1982 Deluxe limited edition hardback monograph with cloth boards, held in special slipcase of ts...
Silk, Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Board
True Love By Tracey Emin
By Tracey Emin
Located in Dubai, Dubai
True Love By Tracey Emin Tracey Emin is a prominent British artist and one of the leading figures of the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement. Renowned for her provocative and au...
Paper, Lithograph
$3,749
H 29.26 in W 19.26 in
100 Affiches Pablo Picasso Stone Lithograph Pablo Picasso
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Dubai, Dubai
100 Affiches Pablo Picasso Lithograph Poster Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and co-founder of the Cubist movement, which revolutionized European painting and sculptu...
Lithograph, Linen
Nude Floating (Charis in Pool)
By Edward Weston
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print made by Edward Weston's son, Cole, in the 1970s or '80s is titled, numbered, stamped and signed by Cole Weston on the back of the mount.
Silver Gelatin
$570
H 28 in W 40 in
Balance is Possible, Blue and White, Handmade Cyanotype, Organic Modern on Paper
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This one-of-a-kind cyanotype monotype layers soft, sinuous bands of blue to create a serene, wave-like field of motion. The artist shapes light-sensitive chemistry directly on waterc...
Paper, Lithograph, Monotype
$570
H 28 in W 40 in
School of Fish, Blue and White, Handmade Cyanotype, Organic Minimalist on Paper
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This one-of-a-kind cyanotype monotype layers soft, sinuous bands of blue to create a serene, wave-like field of motion. The artist shapes light-sensitive chemistry directly on waterc...
Paper, Lithograph, Monotype
Sold
H 39.97 in W 24.81 in D 0.04 in
By Swissair to Amsterdam & Rotterdam – Original Swiss Vintage Airline Poster
By Herbert Matter
Located in Zurich, CH
Original Vintage Travel Poster by the prolific Swiss designer and photographer Herbert Matter that pioneered the art of photomontage in Switzerland due to his constant and ingenious ...
Paper