Herbert Matter

Herbert Matter (1907-1984) was a Swiss-born photographer and graphic designer widely recognized as a pioneer of the modern photographic poster in Switzerland. Born in Engelberg in 1907, he initially studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva from 1925 to 1927 before continuing his studies in Paris at the Académie de l’Art Moderne between 1928 and 1929, where he worked under artists such as Fernand Léger. While living in Paris he began experimenting with photography, teaching himself the medium with a camera left in his apartment.

From 1929 to 1932 Matter worked in Paris as a freelance photographer and graphic artist, collaborating with the studio Deberny & Peignot and contributing to the influential design journal Arts et Métiers Graphiques. After returning to Switzerland in 1932, he created a celebrated series of tourism posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office. These works, which combined striking photography with bold graphic design and innovative photomontage techniques, established his international reputation.

Matter moved to the United States in 1936, where he quickly found success photographing for major publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Town & Country, as well as working with prominent New York advertising agencies. His versatility extended to exhibition and industrial design, including projects for the Swiss and Corning Pavilions at the 1939 World’s Fair and wartime propaganda posters commissioned by the U.S. government. He also collaborated with designers Ray and Charles Eames and created work for Knoll Furniture.

In addition to commercial work, Matter documented the art of leading modernists, photographing figures such as Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko. He also produced a color film focused on Calder’s mobiles and later photographed the sculptures of Alberto Giacometti, publishing them in book form. Matter taught photography and graphic design at Yale University for more than thirty years and remained an influential figure in modern design until his death in 1984.