Herbert Matter (b. 1907 Engelberg, Switzerland; d. 1984 Southampton, New York) was one of the mid-20th century's iconic designers.  Remembered for travel posters for his native Switzerland and designs for the furniture maker Knoll, among many other things, Matter was considered an innovator in typography and photomontage. His work applied the principles of modernism to commercial design and helped define the postwar aesthetic in the United States, and he counted as friends or collaborators such artists as Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. Not content to stick with design, Matter was also a known photographer, who shot covers for Vogue and fashion for Harper's Bazaar; an artist; and a teacher at Yale.

Somehow, this busy man also found the time for the Guggenheim. From 1958 to 1968, Matter worked closely with the museum on designs for just about anything it produced: invitations, posters, and especially catalogues. In over a dozen publications, Matter's elegant graphic touch shaped the Guggenheim's visual identity, taking the exhibition catalogue — which was then often still considered a documentary afterthought — and turning it into a statement.

Photo: © herbertmatter.net