Herbert Matter
Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born graphic artist and photographer who significantly influenced the American graphic design landscape during the twentieth century. Born on April 25, 1907, in Engelberg, Switzerland, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva and the Académie Moderne in Paris, where he explored various artistic techniques, including photomontage and collage. He moved to the United States in 1936 and began a successful career as a freelance photographer and designer, working for high-profile magazines such as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
Matter is perhaps best known for creating the iconic logo for the New Haven Railroad, which remains recognizable today. His work extended beyond graphic design to include significant contributions to exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and teaching roles at Yale University, where he was a professor from 1951 to 1976. Over his career, he received numerous accolades, including induction into the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame and recognition from the Royal Society of Arts in Britain. Matter's legacy continues to resonate in the fields of graphic design and photography, marking him as a pivotal figure in establishing graphic design as a respected art discipline in the United States. He passed away on May 8, 1984, leaving behind a rich body of work that is still celebrated today.
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Subject Terms
Herbert Matter
Photographer, graphic artist
- Born: April 25, 1907
- Place of Birth: Engelberg, Switzerland
- Died: May 8, 1984
- Place of Death: Southampton, New York
Education: École des Beaux-Arts, Académie Moderne
Significance: Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born graphic artist and photographer who came to prominence in the United States during the twentieth century. He was noted for creating various advertisements, designs, logos, and posters for several commercial businesses and corporations. His designs and techniques helped shape the American graphic design industry.
Background
Herbert Matter was born on April 25, 1907, in Engelberg, Switzerland. Not much is known about his early life. After high school, he studied painting at École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva. He moved to Paris, France, two years later to attend the Académie Moderne, where he studied under artists Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant. After graduation, Matter remained in Paris, where he worked as a freelance graphic artist.
He experimented with different art forms such as photograms, collages, and montages. In 1929, he worked for the foundry Deberny & Peignot as a designer and photographer; he also learned typography. During this time, he worked closely with designers A.M. Cassandre and Le Corbusier on art posters, architecture, and displays. Matter next worked for the art journal Arts et Métiers Graphiques and designed posters in his spare time.
In 1932, Matter was ordered to leave France because he did not renew his visa to stay in the country. He returned to Switzerland, where he found work in Zürich. For the next three years, he designed travel posters for the Swiss National Tourist Office. He used many of the techniques that he learned in Paris, including photomontage, which is a piece of artwork created from multiple photos.
Matter next began working with Trudi Schoop's dance troupe. Instead of being paid in cash, Matter worked out a deal that would allow him to travel to the United States with the dance troupe in 1936. Matter did not speak much English, but this did not deter him from wanting a chance to visit America. He photographed the dance troupe as it traveled the United States, and when the tour ended, he decided to stay in the country.
Life's Work
With the help of a friend, Matter found work as a freelance photographer in New York City for several prominent magazines, including Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He also worked for a few advertising agencies and other businesses. He used his background in architecture to help design the Swiss pavilion and Corning Glass pavilion for the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Matter designed posters and advertisements for the box company Container Corporation of America during World War II. About this time, he became noticed for his photography and other art forms and began holding shows at several galleries and museums in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. While in California, Matter briefly worked for Arts & Architecture Magazine.
Matter traveled back to New York in 1946 to begin a tenure with the Knoll furniture manufacturing company, where he spent the next twenty years designing logos, advertisements, catalogs, and other images for the company. He continued to work on other projects during this time. From 1946 to 1967, he worked as a staff photographer for Condé Nast. He also designed exhibits for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and in 1950, he worked on a film about American sculptor Alexander Calder, Works of Calder. Matter then spent some time working on films and gravitated toward teaching. In 1951, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, hired him as a professor of photography and graphic design. He worked at Yale until 1976, at which time he retired with the title professor emeritus.
Matter created a logo for the New Haven Railroad in 1954 that became one of the most identifiable symbols in America. He received much praise and acclaim for the style of this logo, which used the white letter N over the red letter H on a black-and-white background. The logo still exists in the twenty-first century on Metro-North trains and at New Haven's Union Station. Also in the 1950s, Matter began working as a design consultant for posters and catalogs for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He continued his work with the Guggenheim until 1968.
In 1960, Matter began a photographic essay project on the work of Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. He worked on the project sporadically for the next two decades. Matter's work was shown at various museums throughout his career. The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) in New York showed Matter's designs in 1962. The Yale University School of Art held a retrospective of his work in 1978. The same year, the Kunsthaus Zürich museum held an exhibition of Matter's photos from the 1930s.
Matter died from cancer on May 8, 1984, in Southampton, New York. Two years later, his project on Giacometti was published.
Impact
Matter is credited with helping to establish graphic design as an art discipline in the United States. He became renowned for his work in graphics, and his New Haven Railroad logo became one of the most recognizable images in the United States. Throughout the years, Matter was honored for his work in graphic arts and photography. The Art Directors Club inducted him into its hall of fame in 1976. In 1982, the British Royal Society of Arts honored Matter with the distinction Royal Designer for Industry for his designs. AIGA awarded him its gold medal the following year.
Personal Life
Matter married artist Mercedes Carles in 1941. She cofounded the New York Studio School of Painting and Sculpture. The couple had one son, Alex, in 1942.
Bibliography
Brenson, Michael. "Herbert Matter, 77, a Graphic Designer and Photographer." New York Times, 9 May 1984, www.nytimes.com/1984/05/09/obituaries/herbert-matter-77-a-graphic-designer-and-photographer.html?mcubz=1. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Byrnes, Mark. "Sketching Towards a Perfect Train Logo." CityLab, 23 June 2016, www.citylab.com/design/2016/06/sketching-towards-a-perfect-train-logo/487946. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
"The Graphic Designs of Herbert Matter." Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/340. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
Heller, Steven, and David R. Brown. "Herbert Matter." American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1 Mar. 1983, www.aiga.org/medalist-herbertmatter. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
"Herbert Matter." Art Directors Club, adcglobal.org/hall-of-fame/herbert-matter. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
"Herbert Matter." Artmedia Digital, herbertmatter.org/welcome. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
"Herbert Matter." Famous Graphic Designers, www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/herbert-matter. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.