Herbert Matter

Screening Notes:

• Herbert Matter was not widely known:
• Although, an influential artist, designer, photographer, filmmaker
• Instrumental in shaping modern art
• Influence the likes of Robert Pollock and other ground-breaking artists of his time
• Matter was raised in Switzerland
• Engelburg, Switzerland had many mountains
• likely that this shaped some of his work
• To understand art- need a sense of space and skill
• Attended Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Geneva
• Matter attended this school for 4 years
• Enbraced a Constructivist and purist style in his work
• Used film and photos together in surrealism
• Redesigns his family business with new Constructivist style
• Clean lines, modern, etc.
• Widely accepted style in Switzerland
• Matter leaves Paris for Zurich - practiced photomontage
• Trudy Hess:
• Young model used in many of photography designs
• Represents young model and free spirit
• Used in Matter's posters
• Matter uses photography in posters (1932-1934)
• Ground-breaking because up until this time - posters were painted with no photography involved
• Dyes various elements photochemically in posters to achieve modernness & freshness
• Earned wide recognition for this technique
• Travels to New York with Hess as Photographer:
• Even in United States, calmness and serenity of Swiss mountains found there way into his work
• Grew up in Engelwood, Switzerland - shaped much of his work
• Charles Eames proposed job offering to design furniture for him in California (L. A.) in 1943
• He enjoyed Matter's constructivist, clean style
• left shortly after
• family issues
•  felt unsatisfyed with job of documenting Eames' work
• family travels back to New York
• his son, Alex, contracts polio
• made poster series to create polio awareness
• Worked for Vogue (under Liberman) for decade
• Changed the course of publication design with photo manipulation, etc.
• In Matter's filmwork, form and motion the main focus
• Alexander Calder a huge influence on this (mobile)
• Gave his films a dance-like quality
• Hired as Design consultant for Nole and Associates
• Matter was first design professor at Yale University
• gave no lectures 
• focussed on working in the field
• Focused on personal work in last decade of his career
• dies in 1984

1940
Nude on the Beach

Flyer

May 1944

1940
Mercedes

July 1945
Arts & Architecture,