| Creator | Jacob Bollschweiler |
| Printing year | 1906 |
| Sheet size (cm) | 105×75.5 |
| Printing technique | Lithograph |
| Printer | Art. Institut Orell Füssli |
| Condition | A- |
| Asking price | 8'800 CHF |
| Categories | Animal, Grisons, Switzerland |
Jacob Friedrich Bollschweiler was barely 16 years old when his design – submitted to a competition organized by the Graubünden Tourist Association, which called for a poster promoting the canton as a summer destination – promptly won first prize (and he 300 francs) out of 64 entries. Above all, however: «The poster awarded first prize is to be implemented immediately», stated the jury’s announcement in March 1906. And that’s exactly what happened; a French version was also published.
Surely also thanks to a certain youthful carefreeness that paid little heed to tradition, Bollschweiler’s draft of the elegant lady on horseback in front of Piz Bernina is indeed not merely a fresh work, but one that was extraordinarily modern for its time – and not just by Swiss standards (which were still lagging somewhat at that time): The focus is on a single motif, the composition designed for impact from a distance, featuring large, clearly defined areas of color without any fussy details and without losing depth, while the restrained Art Nouveau decor as well as the lettering evoke the Vienna Secession. Credit is also due to the jury and the tourist association, which is accountable to its members, for not shying away from placing their trust in a teenager (as they would undoubtedly have found ways and means to switch to a different design once the artist’s identity became known).
They would have found ways and means to switch to a different design as soon as the artist’s identity had become known.
Bollschweiler (1889 – 1938, died in a plane crash near Naples) was born in Lörrach but moved to Zurich as a child, where he trained as a lithographer (the employees at a printing house who transferred the submitted designs onto the stones) before attending the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe. Since only one other poster by him from 1908 is known to exist, it can be assumed that he did not see his future – as he was by no means the only visual artist at the beginning of the 20th century – in the field of commissioned work. In fact, one of his prints was included in the magazine «Die Schaffenden» (The Creators), published in portfolio form between 1918 and 1930 by the Berlin gallery owner and publisher Paul Westheim, a publication now regarded as outstanding.
maybe also of interest – as it’s a very early yet modern Original Travel Poster too: