Jan Tschichold: Designer, Theorist, Collector
Jan Tschichold (Swiss, born Germany, 1902–1974) was not only one of the most important graphic designers of the early twentieth century, but also one of its key theorizers, educators, and propagators. He was in his early twenties when he began to publish theoretical texts, which he illustrated with reproductions of works by artists including Otto Baumberger, Herbert Bayer, John Heartfield, El Lissitzky, and László Moholy-Nagy. Key among these publications was the influential Die Neue Typography (The New Typography) of 1928. In the process of preparing these publications, Tschichold assembled numerous examples of printed matter from friends and colleagues, which survived the Second World War and were eventually dispersed. Between 1928 and 1931, Tschichold was a member of the Ring “neue Werbegestalter” (Circle of New Advertising Designers), an exhibiting association founded by Kurt Schwitters, Max Burchartz, and others to disseminate the ideas of “The New Typography.” Tschichold co-edited the landmark anthology Foto-Auge (Photo Eye) with Franz Roh in 1929, and was one of a select group of designers to be profiled in the landmark book Gefesselter Blick: 25 kurze Monografien und Beiträge über neue Werbegestaltung (Captivated Gaze: 25 Short Monographs and Statements on New Advertising Design) in 1930.
Tschichold is presented here in his roles as a designer, theorist, and collector through books, stationery, posters, and other printed materials that comprise the deep holdings of the artist’s work in the Merrill C. Berman Collection.
Designer
Tschichold’s early work in his hometown of Leipzig included mostly small advertisements and stationery for friends and private clients. In 1926, he moved to Munich to accept a teaching position at the Graphische Berufsschule (Vocational School for Graphic Arts) at the invitation of the established designer Paul Renner. Tschichold received his first major commission in Munich from the Phoebus Palast, a grand movie theater that had opened that year and was the largest in Germany. Over the course of 1927, Tschichold produced more than thirty posters and other advertisements for the theater at a rapid clip, promoting both German and foreign films. His clients in Munich also included the Rathaus-Lichtspiele movie theater and the Graphisches Kabinett art gallery. In 1933, Tschichold and his wife Edith (née Kramer), a journalist, were accused of “cultural Bolshevism” and took flight from the Nazis. They moved to Basel, Switzerland, where museums, notably the Kunsthalle Basel and the Gewerbemuseum Basel, counted among Tschichold’s primary clients.
LEIPZIG (until 1926)
BASEL (1933–1947)
Kunsthalle and Gewerbemuseum, Basel
Theorist
Tschichold’s first major treatise appeared in a special issue of the trade journal Typographische Mitteilungen (Typographic Studies) in 1925. Devoted to “Elemental Typography,” this issue was illustrated with works and texts by Lissitzky, Moholy-Nagy, Schwitters, and others. The format presented here was expanded in his seminal 1928 book Die Neue Typographie, which included not only theoretical texts but also practical advice to graphic designers; this was followed two years later by Eine Stunde Druckgestaltung (A Lesson in Printing Design). Tschichold’s interests also extended to photography, which he considered essential to modern graphic design. In 1929, together with the art historian Franz Roh, Tschichold published the landmark volume Foto-Auge (Photo-Eye), which was to be followed by Fototek, a series of books devoted to contemporary photography, edited by Roh and designed by Tschichold. Of the eight volumes announced, only the first two books in the Fototek series appeared, in 1930.
Typographische Mitteilungen. Sonderheft: Elementare Typographie, 1925
Die Neue Typographie, 1928
Foto-Auge (1929)
Fototek (1930)
Eine Stunde Druckgestaltung (1930)
Typografische Entwurfstechnik (1932) and Druk Nowoczesny (1938)
Collector
Early in his career, Tschichold began amassing works of graphic design by his contemporaries as a means to hone his own thinking as well as to illustrate his publications and lectures. In January and February 1930, works from his collection were exhibited together in the exhibition Plakate der Avantgarde: Ausstellung der Sammlung Jan Tschichold (Posters of the Avant-Garde: Exhibition of the Collection of Jan Tschichold) at the Graphisches Kabinett in Munich. Tschichold designed the poster and catalogue for the exhibition, which included fellow Germans, such as Max Burchartz and Walter Dexel, as well as international figures such as Cassandre, El Lissitzky, Paul Schuitema, and Piet Zwart. Tschichold’s collection, which eventually numbered some 2,000 items, was eventually dispersed by donation or purchase to institutions including the Gewerbemuseum Basel; the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich; and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The partial archive of Tschichold’s own book art and calligraphy is today in the collection of the Deutschen Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek (German Museum of Books and Writing, German National Library), Leipzig; his correspondence is at the Getty Research Institute.