Sculptures by Painters from Daumier to Picasso | Kunsthaus Zürich

It’s difficult to create illustrations when dealing with sculptures from different eras and by artists as diverse as Honoré Daumier, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Umberto Boccioni, Robert Delaunay, and Max Ernst. Consequently, Werner Zryd opted for a very matter-of-fact, almost “Swiss-style” solution. Or did he, after all, resort to abstraction—with the rectangle representing the sculpture’s maximum stylization and the red signifying its maximum impact in the space?

In any case, as a child of his time and a graduate of the preparatory course at the Zurich School of Applied Arts, Zryd (1923–1996) was very familiar with the trend toward a sober, clear style. After completing a graphic design apprenticeship at Amstutz & Herdeg —the creators behind the now-iconic St. Moritz posters had gone independent in 1938—and after several months as an assistant to Emil Schulthess (himself the creator of numerous posters), Zryd founded his own agency. As a poster designer, he worked primarily for the exhibition department at Jelmoli, the Rietberg Museum, and the Kunsthaus Zürich.

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