SwissAir to India

Donald Brun
1958
Linen backed poster
25 x 40 in. (63.5 x 101 cm. )

Provenance: Distinguished private collection, New York

Swissair was founded in 1931 after the merger of Ad Astra Aero (founded in 1919) and Balair (founded in 1925). At the start, unlike other European airlines, Swissair did not receive support from the government. It was not until 1951 that the Swiss government purchased 30% of the shares, and the airline became the official national carrier of Switzerland.

Swissair was a pioneer in many aspects of the airline industry. For example, the airline was one of the first to use American aircraft and the first in Europe to employ flight attendants in 1934. In 1957 they added the Far East to their routes, with stops in Bombay (now Mumbai), India.

This poster was created in 1958 by Donald Brun (1909-1999), to promote the new routes. Brun was an illustrator known for his poster designs. He studied art in Basel and Berlin, and in 1933 became an independent designer. He was entrusted the design of his nation’s pavilions for the national exhibitions in Zürich 1939 and Lausanne 1964, as well as at the Brussels Expo 1958. Brun also taught at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel (1947-74), and received many awards for his works and exhibited in galleries and museums.

His painterly approach to poster design was very evident in his series for Swissair destinations. For India, he chose to represent an elephant transporting two male figures wearing a turban and an Indian woman in the front wearing a sari, traditional woman’s clothing in India. The beautiful scale of greens balances perfectly with the pinks and oranges. His signature style is used in this image as well as others in this series.

This is an Original Vintage Poster; it is not a reproduction. This poster is conservation mounted, linen backed, and in excellent condition.