Object Posters
Close-up view of sunglasses and sun tan lotion tube; white, blue, black, purple
Niklaus Stoecklin, Bi-Oro (with sunglasses), 1941
Bubbles and Eptinger label rise from water; green, white, red, yellow
Herbert Leupin, Eptinger (Bubbles), 1945
Pearl and binaca tube on oyster pearl shell; pink, peach, yellow
Niklaus Stoecklin, Binaca, 1945

Object Posters

Explore our world-leading Object Poster collection.

 

The term Sachplakat, or Object Poster, was coined in Germany to describe a new type of poster which featured a realistic depiction of the product and little else. Lucian Bernhard's revolutionary 1905 poster for Preister matches is considered the first of this type, and its utter simplicity became a hallmark of the emerging Plakatstil (Poster Style).

 

The craze for this poster type continued in Switzerland, where the passion for precision in printing and drawing technique was unsurpassed. In 1923 Otto Baumberger drew a tweed coat for PKZ with its label serving as the only text - which many mistook for a photograph.

 

Shortly after, the iconic beauty of the everyday object became the mission of a group of artists in Basel, who made the Sachplakat the leading Swiss style in the '40s and early '50s. Laced with humor and stunning visual impact, these posters represent the last great period of the lithographic poster, which high cost and long production cycles was soon to eliminate.

 

Leading Artists:

Birkhauser, Baumberger, Brun, Buhler, 

Diggelmann, Leupin, Stoecklin 

 

For more, visit our past gallery exhibitions:
   - Larger than Life - The Swiss Object Poster 1919-1959
   - The Art of the Smile - 50 Years of Playful Posters by Herbert Leupin
   - Proto-Pop - The Elegant Object 

 

Shop Object Posters -->

 

Men's dress shirt and red tie with pink carnation; white, grey, red
Peter Birkhauser, Permastyff, 1943
Several toothbrushes against text and background; purple, orange, green, red
Fritz Buhler, Tek, 1948
Violin head; pink, brown, black, red
Peter Birkhauser, Radio Paillard, 1945

Object Posters

Explore our world-leading Object Poster collection.

 

The term Sachplakat, or Object Poster, was coined in Germany to describe a new type of poster which featured a realistic depiction of the product and little else. Lucian Bernhard's revolutionary 1905 poster for Preister matches is considered the first of this type, and its utter simplicity became a hallmark of the emerging Plakatstil (Poster Style).

 

The craze for this poster type continued in Switzerland, where the passion for precision in printing and drawing technique was unsurpassed. In 1923 Otto Baumberger drew a tweed coat for PKZ with its label serving as the only text - which many mistook for a photograph.

 

Shortly after, the iconic beauty of the everyday object became the mission of a group of artists in Basel, who made the Sachplakat the leading Swiss style in the '40s and early '50s. Laced with humor and stunning visual impact, these posters represent the last great period of the lithographic poster, which high cost and long production cycles was soon to eliminate.

 

Leading Artists:

Birkhauser, Baumberger, Brun, Buhler, 

Diggelmann, Leupin, Stoecklin 

 

For more, visit our past gallery exhibitions:
   - Larger than Life - The Swiss Object Poster 1919-1959
   - The Art of the Smile - 50 Years of Playful Posters by Herbert Leupin
   - Proto-Pop - The Elegant Object 

 

Shop Object Posters -->

 

*Header image derived from Peter Birkhauser's 1957 poster, Beer Glass with Red Glove (Black).

*Header image derived from Peter Birkhauser's 1957 poster, Beer Glass with Red Glove (Black).