Autriche skiing poster – Atelier Prof. Kirnig
This Autriche skiing poster is probably Paul Kirnig’s best-known design. It was created in 1937 for the Austrian Tourist Board to promote Austria and its ski resorts as the perfect destination for winter sports.
Kirnig’s poster features a skier racing down a mountainside at speed. The sense of motion is enhanced by the streaks of white that are seen at the bottom of the skier’s legs. The snow and the angle of the sun give the image a bright, almost blinding quality. As if to emphasise Austria as a destination where snow meets sun, the speeding skier is portrayed wearing a sun-visor but it’s not stopping the sun from beating down on the left-hand side of his face.
The icy blue shades of the sky and snow highlight the elegant and serene beauty of the winter landscape. The poster is deliberately ambiguous about the exact location. It could be any Austrian ski resort, although, the inclusion of the familiar shape of the Großglockner mountain suggests is it somewhere near Tirol, possibly Ischgl.
The Großglockner, known locally as The Black Mountain, stands 3,798m high. It is Austria’s highest mountain and is surrounded by a further 300 mountain peaks that stand 3000 meters tall or above! The mountain makes a dramatic and impressive backdrop for the skiing action taking place in the design of the poster.
The artist is acknowledged on the poster as Atelier Prof. Kirnig.
Paul Kirnig the artist behind the Autriche skiing poster
Paul Kirnig was an artist and poster designer. He was born in Bielitz, Silesia, a province of the Habsburg Empire (now Poland). At the age of seventeen, he moved to Vienna and in 1918, he enrolled at the Kunstgewerbeschule to study graphic art. At that time the Kunstgewerbeschule was considered one of the leading arts and crafts colleges in Europe. Oskar Kokoschka, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffman, Alfred Roller and Franz Cizek, to name but a few were teachers there.
After completing his studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in 1922 Kirnig spent a period of two years painting and freelancing as a commercial artist. Many of his early paintings including Suzanna and the Elders, the Self-portrait, the Town, Thistles, Christmas roses, and Apples were produced during this period.
During his lifetime Paul Kirnig was well known for his work and teaching in the field of commercial art and was regarded as the creator of the modern Austrian poster. His paintings, however, have only recently attracted attention.
During his career he created several posters for the Austrian Tourist Board promoting Austria as an important travel destination.
The first Alpine Skiing in Austria
It is widely considered that the Austrian skiing pioneer Mathius Zdarsky was the first person to throw themselves down steep mountain slopes on wooden planks. He would steer by using a single long pole to change direction.
There are several early adverts and vintage ski posters that portray skiers performing this Norwegian, style of skiing. An 1894 advert for skis and sledges by artist Jorg Kremke, the 1922 Sainte Croix et Les Rasses poster and the fabulous 1905 Sports D’Hiver Chamonix poster are great examples.
According to Wikipedia In January 1905, Zdarsky demonstrated a steep downhill descent, and was among the first to publicize this development in Central Europe. To show the superiority of his ski technology, he skied the “Breite Ries” at Schneeberg, Austria.
On 19 March 1905 he organized the first alpine ski race on the Muckenkogel via Lilienfeld in Austria (although Crans-Montana in Switzerland had already run the first Kandahar descent race, in January, 1901). This race had 24 participants and Zdarsky won, making him the first winner of an official ski race!
Austria has some of the world’s best ski resorts and is the second most popular country for ski holidays from Britain. With ski venues like St Anton am Arlberg, Kitbühel, Mayrhofen, Sölden, Ischgl, Söll, Zell am See, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Alpbach, Innsbruck
Buy this Autriche skiing poster
For anyone who loves winter sports, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of skiing down a steep mountain slope. And this poster perfectly captures that feeling, with the skier racing down the hill at high speed. The mountainside is blanketed in fresh snow, and the sun is shining brightly. It’s an idyllic scene that evokes a sense of excitement and adventure.
Skiing is one of the most exhilarating activities around, and this Austrche skiing poster perfectly captures that feeling. So if you’re looking for a little bit of winter inspiration, this is it!
Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.
The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.
