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HERBERT MATTER (1907-1984)
118 • AMERICA CALLING. 1941.
40x29
1
/
2
inches, 101
1
/
2
x75 cm. U.S. Government Printing Office, [Washington, D.C.]
Condition B+: expertly restored loss along lower right edge, slightly affecting image; minor restoration at
edges.
Matter was an early master of photomontage who secured his reputation both in his homeland and
abroad with a series of travel posters commissioned by the Swiss National Tourist Office between
1932-1936. In 1936, Matter permanently settled in New York, where he opened a photography studio
and worked for major clients like Harper’s Bazaar and Knoll Furniture. Given his talent, he was
approached during WWII to help with the propaganda side of the war effort. This poster, promoting
defense on the civilian front, is one of his few wartime images. The diving eagle, with dynamic
splashes of red and blue, conveys the impression of speed while adding the requisite patriotic element.
Matter “was able to reduce forceful and complex subjects to elemental visual terms” (Word and Image
p. 59). Fotoplakate 22, Zeman p. 42, Modern American Poster 52, MOMA 118.1944.
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