Strandbad Interlaken Vintage Travel Poster
Martin Peikert was a Swiss graphic designer, painter, and illustrator best known for his vintage travel posters. The Strandbad Interlaken poster listed on this page was Peikert’s first travel poster design, which he created in 1930. The poster depicts a woman, his then wife, wearing a beige bathing suit and about to throw a large bright red beach ball. The beauty and energy of the young woman fill the poster with vibrancy and the strong colors convey a sense of fun and excitement.
The poster was produced by the Swiss National Tourist Office to advertise and promote the newly constructed Starandbad Lido at Interlaken. The building was heavily influenced by the art deco movement and cost over half a million francs to build. The open-air pool was built on a natural stretch of sand. The facilities included a restaurant, a swimming pool with a large diving tower, and beautiful changing rooms to cater to 600 bathers. Peikert’s poster portrays guests at the lido lounging on the beach, relaxing in the pool and eating outside at the restaurant. Behind the fantastic art deco building, are the even more impressive mountains that make up the Bernese Oberland. Peikert has depicted the Swiss Alps as shadowy silhouettes in the background of his image. Choosing to highlight the eternally snow-capped mountain, the Schilthorn.
It is often said that Peikert’s posters were popular for their use of bold colours and simple designs. And it may be true, however, Peikert’s clever compositions and often unnoticed solutions, belie the poster’s simple’ design. For example on this poster, Piekert’s model has been strategically posed to mimic the mountain range behind. Peikert has used the belt on the young woman to visually continue the sightline of the Alps.
Peikert’s 1920s posters were greatly influenced by Art Deco. His tourism posters had a unique, clear, memorable style. He went on to design many more, including ones for the Swiss National Tourist Office and the Swiss Railways. Peikert’s subsequent travel posters would build on his work on this Strandbad Interlaken print, creating vivid scenes that encouraged people to explore the world. Today, his posters are highly sought-after by collectors and provide a fascinating glimpse into the history of graphic design. and they continue to be popular collector’s items today.
Other Martin Peikert Travel Posters
Martin Peikert is well known for the realism and precision of his wonderful poster illustrations. He created dozens of travel posters and skiing posters for ski resorts across the Alps. Some of his best-known and most popular posters include his Gstaad poster featuring a couple on a ski lift heading towards ‘the moon’. His poster advertising St Moritz with a cable car heading towards the snow-covered mountain peak.
For many of his posters, Peikert used his first wife Henriette as his muse and model. One example is his Les Diablerets poster featuring a skier being pulled up a ski slope with a sprite of her shoulders. One features her travelling to a ski resort on the roof of the MOB Railway and another MOB Railway poster shows her asleep on the roof of a small Swiss chalet. One of his best in my opinion is his iconic Champery ski poster of a woman relaxing in the snow.
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 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 £15. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.
