Plastics in Architecture, Household, Sports, and Technology

Two colors respectively linoleum blocks and a well-conceived design based on the chemical structure of polycarbonate—that was all Richard Paul Lohse needed to create a poster for the exhibition on the use of plastics, which were comparatively new at the time, in technology, everyday life, and architecture. Although: the art lies precisely in simplification and abstraction. And that is exactly what Zurich commercial artists and/or constructive and concrete artists like Lohse, Carlo Vivarelli, Hans Neuburg, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Max Bill were known for. So well known and influential indeed (along with the somewhat more playful Basel designers Armin Hofmann, Emil Ruder, Fridolin Müller, ...) that their design approach, emphasizing absolute precision and clarity while eliminating any artistic attitude, embarked on a triumphant international journey known as the «Swiss Style» or «International Typographic Style.».

A very rare sheet and an important witness to the «Swiss Style,» furthermore in an exceptional state of preservation; also exists with the text variant «Gewerbemuseum Winterthur,» where the exhibition was first seen at the end of 1958. Curiously, all copies of both versions were slightly smaller than the standard Swiss world format of approx. 128×90 cm

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Constructive Graphic Art – Works by Lohse, Neuburg, Vivarelli