Summer in Graubünden | Alpine Climate – Mountain Sports – Spa Treatments

Jacob Bollschweiler was barely 16 years old when his design—submitted as part of a competition organized by the Graubünden Tourism Association, which called for a poster promoting the canton as a summer destination—promptly won first prize among the 64 entries (and Bollschweiler received 300 francs). Most importantly, however, «The poster awarded first prize is to be produced immediately,» according to the jury’s statement in March 1906. And that is exactly what happened; a French version was also printed.

Bollschweiler—certainly thanks in part to a certain youthful carefree spirit that didn’t pay much heed to traditions—has indeed succeeded in creating an image that is not merely fresh, but one that is immensely modern for that time and not only by (which were still lagging somewhat behind at that time): A focus on a single motif, a composition designed for impact from a distance with large, clearly defined areas of color—free of any fussy details and without losing depth—where the understated Art Nouveau decor and the lettering evoke the Vienna Secession. Kudos also to the jury and the tourist office, which was accountable to its members, for not shying away from placing their trust in a teenager (for once the creator’s identity had become known, they would undoubtedly have found ways and means to switch to a different design).

Bollschweiler (1889–1938, plane crash near Naples) was born in Lörrach but moved to Zurich as a child and trained as a lithographer (these were the employees at a printing shop who transferred the submitted designs onto the stones), before attending the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe. Since only one other poster by him, dating from 1908, is known to exist, it can be assumed that he did not see his future—and 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*—published in portfolio form between 1918 and 1930 by the Berlin gallery owner and publisher Paul Westheim—which is today regarded as outstanding.

You might also find this interesting—and it’s also a very early yet modern tourism poster:
Zermatt – Matterhorn