Winnipeg, Canada

For over 20 years, I’ve had this dramatic A0-sized poster by El Lissitzky (for the Russian Exhibition in Zürich in 1929, notable at the time for its egalitarian depiction of men and women as equals), hanging in my home—imagine my surprise when I serendipitously stumbled across the original photo-montage prep work this evening, via ffffound! The poster is one of several dozen fine pieces given to me by the curator of the magnificent Poster Collection at the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Zürich when I visited there in 1986.

Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (1890–1941), better known as El Lissitzky, was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer, and architect. His avant garde work greatly influenced the Bauhaus, Constructivist, and De Stijl movements and experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th century graphic design. More about El Lissitzky here.

Oh, and happy World Graphics Day!