Three Posters by Ernst Deutsch-Dryden (1887–1938)

Salamander Schuhe (Salamander Shoes), 1912
Lithograph, 27 7/8 x 37 1/2" (70.8 x 95.3 cm)
Printed signature, lower left: Deutsch

Between 1910 and the outbreak of the First World War, the Austrian-born commercial artist Ernst Deutsch (later Dryden; 1887–1938) was based in Berlin. Together with Julius Klinger (Austrian, 1876–1942) and Lucian Bernhard (American, born Germany. 1883–1972), Deutsch was a pioneer of the Sachplakat (Object Poster). The three posters highlighted here date from Deutsch’s Berlin period. In 1917, Deutsch moved back to Austria and in 1919, he assumed the pseudonym “Dryden,” which was legalized in 1931. For a brief biography and chronology of Ernst Deutsch-Dryden, click here.

Mercedes Schreibmaschine (Mercedes Typewriters), 1911
Lithograph, 27 7/8 x 37 1/2” (71 x 95.25 cm)
Printer: Reklameverlag Ernst Marx, Berlin
Printed signature, lower right: Deutsch

Admirals Casino, 1912
Lithograph, 27 3/8 x 37 3/8” (69.5 x 95 cm)
Printer: Hollerbaum & Schmidt, Berlin
Printed signature, lower right: Deutsch

Note: Opened in 1911, the Admiralspalast, designed by Heinrich Schweitzer and Alexander Diepenbrock, was a central entertainment complex in Berlin, featuring a skating rink, bowling alleys, a public pool, a café and a cinema, and hosting events like ice hockey games, dances, and boxing matches. Notably, Germany’s first dance tournament, showcasing new fashionable dances, was held there on December 10, 1912.

November 4, 2025