Palace Hotel St. Moritz.

Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, 1921

Description: Publisher: Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, 1921. Printer: Graphische Anstalt J. Wolfsberg, Zürich. Technique: Colour lithography. Size: 128 × 90 cm (F4) - 50½ × 35½ in.

Ref.: Bolt 1985, 74; Tön 299349

Condition: An original poster in very good condition. A small tear at the left, right and lower margin. (c. 1 cm). Otherwise, however, no noteworthy damage or at most slight signs of use commensurate with age. Not mounted.

Notes: Emil Cardinaux (1877–1936) is undoubtedly one of the true founders of the artistic poster, both in Switzerland and internationally. Of central importance are the landscape posters of the years 1905 to 1922, in which Cardinaux further developed the traditional pictorial theme into an image form that was effective in terms of decoration and suitable for use in posters, particularly for tourism advertising. The posters created during this period have left their mark on Switzerland’s advertising image and continue to do so to this day. While his first posters were still influenced by Ferdinand Hodler’s painting style and motifs, his treatment of line, colour and space developed over time into an independent, stylistically confident painting style. With his poster for the Hotel Palace in St. Moritz, Cardinaux reached an important milestone in his creative work. The skillful presentation of sophisticated guests against a luminous background and the imposing mountain scenery exudes an international flair that is rather atypical for Switzerland. It is undoubtedly to Emil Cardinaux’s credit that, with a number of outstanding poster designs, he set in motion a development which was to make Switzerland a country of exemplary poster design.