Paul Klee, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Willem Jacob Henri Berend Sandberg
Dutch, 1897–1984
1957
A photolithograph exhibition poster by Dutch designer Willem (Wim) Sandberg that uses a rough, calligraphic figure and disruptive typography to advertise a 1957 Paul Klee show at the Stedelijk Museum.
You’re first struck by a large, childlike black-ink figure and a lot of empty white space, with the name “Klee” playfully sliced through by red bars so the letters feel like part drawing, part typographic joke.
The poster illustrates postwar modernist museum graphics—Sandberg’s bold fusion of hand-drawn mark-making and typographic experimentation helped make exhibition design itself a form of modern art and shaped how institutions presented artists like Klee.
Medium
Photolithograph
Dimensions
39 3/8 x 27 9/16" (100 x 70 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Accession
345.1957
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
