Plakatstil Posters

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The Poster Style, or "Plakatstil", was begun in 1905 by Lucian Bernhard in Berlin. For a poster competition sponsored by Preister matches he took the novel approach of drawing two large matches and writing the brand name above them in clean, bold letters. The stark simplicity of the design won him the competition, and marked a departure from the fussy and decorative Art Nouveau style, which was beginning to lose its vitality.

With its reduction of naturalism and emphasis on flat colors and shapes, the new style was the next step beyond Toulouse-Lautrec in creating an abstract visual language. Bernhard's style spread throughout Germany, and became the foundation for a revolution in commercial advertising in pre-war Berlin. The style is one of the most important variants of Early 20th Century Modernism that proved a bridge between Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

An equally powerful Plakatstil artist named Ludwig Hohlwein arose in Munich who would also have a profound influence on early Swiss poster design and Art Deco.

Leading Artists:

Germany:  Hohlwein, Moos, Bernhard, Kunst, Klinger, Gipkens

Switzerland:  Koch, Cardinaux, Mangold, Baumberger, Michaud

Austria:   Fischinger, Bertle, Neumann

Denmark:   Bogelund, Henrikssen

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