Mostly Books

5 / 13 Jürg Halter 6 –11 / 234 –235 / 248 –249 Zsigmond Toth 14 –17 / 18 –21 Beat Wismer 22 –225 Book Diary 24 –26 / 27–29 Chris Bünter 98 / 99 Etienne Lullin 124 –125 / 126 –127 Torben Hardenberg 182 / 183 Peter Suter 204 –205 / 206 –207 Kana Ueda Thoma 232 / 233 Miriam Cahn 236 –241 / 242–247 Claudio Moser 250 –254 Contributors Thanks Impressum / Imprint

5 / 13 Jürg Halter 6 –11 / 234 –235 / 248 –249 Zsigmond Toth 14 –17 / 18 –21 Beat Wismer 22 –225 Book Diary 24 –26 / 27–29 Chris Bünter 98 / 99 Etienne Lullin 124 –125 / 126 –127 Torben Hardenberg 182 / 183 Peter Suter 204 –205 / 206 –207 Kana Ueda Thoma 232 / 233 Miriam Cahn 236 –241 / 242–247 Claudio Moser 250 –254 Contributors Thanks Impressum / Imprint

After taking a degree in graphic design, I couldn’t find a job. I knew too much or too little; I was too old to be a newcomer; I had the education but no expe­rience — a woman in a field dominated by men, a) with a child, which the men considered a handicap, and b) my Danish ways. But then the innovative Danish designer Verner Panton asked me to do some freelance work, to colour in textile and wallpaper repeats, which turned into doing this book with him — it was exactly what I wanted. It had to be finished in time for a major retrospective in Copenhagen on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Later the exhibition came to Basel, where it was housed in a circus tent. There were no computers in those days. First we had to trawl his archives for photographs, slides, drawings and documents. We — there were two of us, two graphic designers Ole Herskind from Denmark and I — outlined sections of the photographs on tracing paper and sketched the layout on graph paper, not really much different from working with computer programmes except that it took a lot of table space. The book came to life in the enchanted house where Verner lived with his wife Marianne and with all of the prototypes he had designed. It was home, studio and showroom all in one. The book was presented as a gift at the opening. The first edition was huge, 10,000 copies. Sadly, he died in 1998, the same year the book was reprinted, and didn’t live to see the revival of his products.

Verner Panton 1986, Copenhagen/Basel, Verner Panton and Niels-Jørgen Kaiser (eds) 72 pages, 29.9 × 29.9 cm, printed in colour, softcover with a circular hole through the entire book

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After taking a degree in graphic design, I couldn’t find a job. I knew too much or too little; I was too old to be a newcomer; I had the education but no expe­rience — a woman in a field dominated by men, a) with a child, which the men considered a handicap, and b) my Danish ways. But then the innovative Danish designer Verner Panton asked me to do some freelance work, to colour in textile and wallpaper repeats, which turned into doing this book with him — it was exactly what I wanted. It had to be finished in time for a major retrospective in Copenhagen on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Later the exhibition came to Basel, where it was housed in a circus tent. There were no computers in those days. First we had to trawl his archives for photographs, slides, drawings and documents. We — there were two of us, two graphic designers Ole Herskind from Denmark and I — outlined sections of the photographs on tracing paper and sketched the layout on graph paper, not really much different from working with computer programmes except that it took a lot of table space. The book came to life in the enchanted house where Verner lived with his wife Marianne and with all of the prototypes he had designed. It was home, studio and showroom all in one. The book was presented as a gift at the opening. The first edition was huge, 10,000 copies. Sadly, he died in 1998, the same year the book was reprinted, and didn’t live to see the revival of his products.

Verner Panton 1986, Copenhagen/Basel, Verner Panton and Niels-Jørgen Kaiser (eds) 72 pages, 29.9 × 29.9 cm, printed in colour, softcover with a circular hole through the entire book

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The artist had a very tight budget, only enough to print in black and white.

To show her colourful work, we came up with the idea of printing all of the works in colour on a single sheet and the cover as a two-colour screen print. The text and little dots to mark the position of the pictures were printed in black black and white. The reproductions, cut to size, were then pasted in by hand.

Elisabeth had to do a lot of pasting: 12 illustrations × 600 copies. It was her first catalogue.

Elisabeth Heller 1989, Elisabeth Heller, Galerie Fabian Walter / text Elisabeth Heller, Urs Stahel 32 pages, 17.5 × 22 cm, sewn binding When Gisele Linder opened her gallery in Elisabethenstrasse in Basel, she asked me to design the invitations for her. I am still doing them after twentyseven years, and they are still being exquisitely printed by Peter Schleiss.

For the twentieth anniversary of her gallery, Gisele did not present an artist but rather all of her invitations. She pinned them in a line at eye level around the walls of her gallery. It looked lovely, all the colours and typography. I was really touched. She also asked me to do a few catalogues. This one was for a group show in Belfort, France. The artists each had eight pages at their disposal. These were bound singly for them but also together in a catalogue with a foreword.

Bale — Belfort Rencontre d’une Galerie et d’un Musée 1990, Galerie Gisele Linder, Basel and Musée d’Art et d’Histoire Belfort / text Christophe Cousin, Doléne Ainardi, Sigmar Gassert, Alois-Karl Hürlimann, Hans-Joachim Müller, Reinhard Wanner, Martin Zingg 50 pages, 21 × 27.9 cm, b / w, softcover

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The artist had a very tight budget, only enough to print in black and white.

To show her colourful work, we came up with the idea of printing all of the works in colour on a single sheet and the cover as a two-colour screen print. The text and little dots to mark the position of the pictures were printed in black black and white. The reproductions, cut to size, were then pasted in by hand.

Elisabeth had to do a lot of pasting: 12 illustrations × 600 copies. It was her first catalogue.

Elisabeth Heller 1989, Elisabeth Heller, Galerie Fabian Walter / text Elisabeth Heller, Urs Stahel 32 pages, 17.5 × 22 cm, sewn binding When Gisele Linder opened her gallery in Elisabethenstrasse in Basel, she asked me to design the invitations for her. I am still doing them after twentyseven years, and they are still being exquisitely printed by Peter Schleiss.

For the twentieth anniversary of her gallery, Gisele did not present an artist but rather all of her invitations. She pinned them in a line at eye level around the walls of her gallery. It looked lovely, all the colours and typography. I was really touched. She also asked me to do a few catalogues. This one was for a group show in Belfort, France. The artists each had eight pages at their disposal. These were bound singly for them but also together in a catalogue with a foreword.

Bale — Belfort Rencontre d’une Galerie et d’un Musée 1990, Galerie Gisele Linder, Basel and Musée d’Art et d’Histoire Belfort / text Christophe Cousin, Doléne Ainardi, Sigmar Gassert, Alois-Karl Hürlimann, Hans-Joachim Müller, Reinhard Wanner, Martin Zingg 50 pages, 21 × 27.9 cm, b / w, softcover

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Eric Hattan — cofounder of Filiale, basically the first fringe art space in Basel — asked me if I would contribute, designing invitations and helping out.

I worked there from November 1987 to April 1989 and met a lot of people who played an important role in my life, for instance, Peter Suter (see p. 251).

The book Schweizerbilder was the first of many exciting projects conceived and carried out with him. The printers used white instead of dark brown endpapers. I had to fight terribly hard to have that changed because I just couldn’t accept the easy way out of having ten per cent lopped off the bill.

Schweizerbilder Ein Bilderbuch zur Schweizer Malerei 1910–1940 1991, Wiese Verlag, Basel, Peter Suter (ed.) / text Peter Suter 226 pages, 22 × 30 cm, profusely illustrated in colour, red linen hardcover with dust jacket

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Theodora Vischer organized the joint exhibition Transform at Kunsthalle Basel and Kunstmuseum Basel. We had to submit the design to Ernst Beyeler.

Matt Mullican’s visit to my office was an absolute highlight for me. He had sketched a symbol, a logo for the exhibition — we used it for invitations, flyers, posters, tickets, outdoor advertising, small pins and even for the streetcars in Basel. I had to do the final artwork for all of the printed matter. In 2016 I had the opportunity to do similar work with him again for his exhibition at Kunstmuseum Winterthur.

Transform BildObjektSkulptur im 20. Jahrhundert 1992, Kunstmuseum and Kunsthalle Basel, Theodora Vischer (ed.) / text Ernst Beyeler, Franz Meyer, Dieter Koepplin, Theodora Vischer (et al.)

224 pages, 23.5 × 31 cm, profusely illustrated in colour, softcover

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Eric Hattan — cofounder of Filiale, basically the first fringe art space in Basel — asked me if I would contribute, designing invitations and helping out.

I worked there from November 1987 to April 1989 and met a lot of people who played an important role in my life, for instance, Peter Suter (see p. 251).

The book Schweizerbilder was the first of many exciting projects conceived and carried out with him. The printers used white instead of dark brown endpapers. I had to fight terribly hard to have that changed because I just couldn’t accept the easy way out of having ten per cent lopped off the bill.

Schweizerbilder Ein Bilderbuch zur Schweizer Malerei 1910–1940 1991, Wiese Verlag, Basel, Peter Suter (ed.) / text Peter Suter 226 pages, 22 × 30 cm, profusely illustrated in colour, red linen hardcover with dust jacket

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Theodora Vischer organized the joint exhibition Transform at Kunsthalle Basel and Kunstmuseum Basel. We had to submit the design to Ernst Beyeler.

Matt Mullican’s visit to my office was an absolute highlight for me. He had sketched a symbol, a logo for the exhibition — we used it for invitations, flyers, posters, tickets, outdoor advertising, small pins and even for the streetcars in Basel. I had to do the final artwork for all of the printed matter. In 2016 I had the opportunity to do similar work with him again for his exhibition at Kunstmuseum Winterthur.

Transform BildObjektSkulptur im 20. Jahrhundert 1992, Kunstmuseum and Kunsthalle Basel, Theodora Vischer (ed.) / text Ernst Beyeler, Franz Meyer, Dieter Koepplin, Theodora Vischer (et al.)

224 pages, 23.5 × 31 cm, profusely illustrated in colour, softcover

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On the occasion of the exhibition at Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett and Berowergut, Riehen.

Claes Oldenburg — Die frühen Zeichnungen 1992, Wiese Verlag Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel / text Dieter Koepplin, Claes Oldenburg 82 pages, 20.5 × 25.5 cm, two editions: softcover for the exhibition and hardcover version for the bookstores Rudolf Velhagen, curator of the exhibition and Dieter Koepplin’s assistant at the Basel Department of Prints and Drawings, produced a slender catalogue for his exhibition of artists from the former GDR. They were not at all pleased when I told them that the colours for the invitation and the cover had been inspired by the so-called Trabi, the automobile that had been produced in East Germany for many years.

Aus einem isolierten Land Fünf Zeichner und eine Zeichnerin aus der ehemaligen DDR 1992, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München / text Dieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk, Wener Schade, Rudolf Velhagen 84 pages, 23.5 × 31 cm, softcover

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On the occasion of the exhibition at Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kupferstichkabinett and Berowergut, Riehen.

Claes Oldenburg — Die frühen Zeichnungen 1992, Wiese Verlag Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel / text Dieter Koepplin, Claes Oldenburg 82 pages, 20.5 × 25.5 cm, two editions: softcover for the exhibition and hardcover version for the bookstores Rudolf Velhagen, curator of the exhibition and Dieter Koepplin’s assistant at the Basel Department of Prints and Drawings, produced a slender catalogue for his exhibition of artists from the former GDR. They were not at all pleased when I told them that the colours for the invitation and the cover had been inspired by the so-called Trabi, the automobile that had been produced in East Germany for many years.

Aus einem isolierten Land Fünf Zeichner und eine Zeichnerin aus der ehemaligen DDR 1992, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München / text Dieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk, Wener Schade, Rudolf Velhagen 84 pages, 23.5 × 31 cm, softcover

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Gegendruck Schweizer Künstlergraphik von Alberto Giacometti bis Urs Lüthi Exhibition catalogue for Galerie der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bonn, Galerie im Taxispalais Innsbruck and Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich 1993, Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich / text Eva Korazija 94 pages, 21 × 27 cm, softcover

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Brice Marden 1993, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Basel / text Dieter Koepplin 94 pages, 24 × 30 cm, 2 pages foldout, softcover

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Gegendruck Schweizer Künstlergraphik von Alberto Giacometti bis Urs Lüthi Exhibition catalogue for Galerie der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Bonn, Galerie im Taxispalais Innsbruck and Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich 1993, Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich / text Eva Korazija 94 pages, 21 × 27 cm, softcover

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Brice Marden 1993, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Basel, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Basel / text Dieter Koepplin 94 pages, 24 × 30 cm, 2 pages foldout, softcover

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I had already designed a poster for the presentation of Ruth and Peter Herzog’s collection of photographs at the Zurich Museum of Design.

This substantial book for an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum Zurich was published by Christoph Merian Verlag in two languages and with exceptionally beautiful reproductions. It was printed by the Basler Zeitung, the local newspaper, which still operated a major printing company in those days. Award-winner.

Im Licht der Dunkelkammer — Die Schweiz in Photographien des 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Herzog / Révélations de la chambre noire — La Suisse du XIXe siècle à travers les photographies de la collection Herzog 1994, Christoph Merian Verlag, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich / text (German, French) Hanspeter Lanz, Beatrix Mesmer, Rudolf Schnyder, David Streiff, Beat von Wartburg (et al.)

228 pages, 22.8 ×30.6 cm, illustrated in colour, one foldout, hardcover

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I had already designed a poster for the presentation of Ruth and Peter Herzog’s collection of photographs at the Zurich Museum of Design.

This substantial book for an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum Zurich was published by Christoph Merian Verlag in two languages and with exceptionally beautiful reproductions. It was printed by the Basler Zeitung, the local newspaper, which still operated a major printing company in those days. Award-winner.

Im Licht der Dunkelkammer — Die Schweiz in Photographien des 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung Herzog / Révélations de la chambre noire — La Suisse du XIXe siècle à travers les photographies de la collection Herzog 1994, Christoph Merian Verlag, Schweizerisches Landesmuseum Zürich / text (German, French) Hanspeter Lanz, Beatrix Mesmer, Rudolf Schnyder, David Streiff, Beat von Wartburg (et al.)

228 pages, 22.8 ×30.6 cm, illustrated in colour, one foldout, hardcover

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Two artists were chosen for the Venice Biennale: Helmut Federle for the pavilion and Urs Frei for the Chiesa St. Stae. Urs wanted something ‘simple’, so I took inspiration from the landscape format of children’s books. The cover was bright red with big yellow letters reading Urs Frei.

Urs Frei 1997, Verlag Lars Müller, Swiss Federal Office of Culture / text (German, English, French, Italian) Christoph Cherix, Yvonne Volkart, Vitus H. Weh 60 pages, 30.8 × 22 cm, paper-covered hardcover

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Two artists were chosen for the Venice Biennale: Helmut Federle for the pavilion and Urs Frei for the Chiesa St. Stae. Urs wanted something ‘simple’, so I took inspiration from the landscape format of children’s books. The cover was bright red with big yellow letters reading Urs Frei.

Urs Frei 1997, Verlag Lars Müller, Swiss Federal Office of Culture / text (German, English, French, Italian) Christoph Cherix, Yvonne Volkart, Vitus H. Weh 60 pages, 30.8 × 22 cm, paper-covered hardcover

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It was the second book that I designed for Kunstmuseum Winterthur and the second catalogue for Karim Noureldin. Karim had been awarded the Manor Prize, which includes not only prize money but also an exhibition and a publication. Three years later, in 2007 the director of the museum Dieter Schwarz asked me to create a new corporate identity for the museum — logo, invitations, all the printed matter, shopping bags, everything. An exciting job. I did it for ten years, until 2017.

Karim Noureldin — Aire 2004, Kunstmuseum Winterthur / text (English, German) Katharina Holderegger, Max Wechsler 88 pages, 23.5 × 29.5, profusely illustrated in colour, softcover with flaps

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Silvia Bächli — Linien 2005, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg / Markus Stegmann (ed.) / text Markus Stegmann 80 pages, 21.5 × 31 cm, drawn-on cover

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It was the second book that I designed for Kunstmuseum Winterthur and the second catalogue for Karim Noureldin. Karim had been awarded the Manor Prize, which includes not only prize money but also an exhibition and a publication. Three years later, in 2007 the director of the museum Dieter Schwarz asked me to create a new corporate identity for the museum — logo, invitations, all the printed matter, shopping bags, everything. An exciting job. I did it for ten years, until 2017.

Karim Noureldin — Aire 2004, Kunstmuseum Winterthur / text (English, German) Katharina Holderegger, Max Wechsler 88 pages, 23.5 × 29.5, profusely illustrated in colour, softcover with flaps

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Silvia Bächli — Linien 2005, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg / Markus Stegmann (ed.) / text Markus Stegmann 80 pages, 21.5 × 31 cm, drawn-on cover

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