Schweizer Kunst (also published as Art Suisse, Arte Svizzera, and Swiss Art) is a Swiss art journal issued by the Gesellschaft Schweizerischer Maler, Bildhauer und Architekten (GSMBA), later known as Visarte. It is described by its publisher as the oldest art magazine in Switzerland and one of the oldest in Europe.[1] The journal has been digitized and made freely accessible through the ETH-Bibliothek’s E-Periodica platform.[2]
Design and History
The journal’s masthead underwent a documented change in 1950. In the report of the GSMBA general assembly held in Basel on 24 and 25 June 1950, the editor noted: “You have also been able to see that we have changed the header of our journal and that it no longer claims to be the representative of Swiss art in general.”[3] This statement confirms a deliberate visual redesign of the journal’s title header in that year, tied to a narrowing of the publication’s editorial scope.
The journal was published in St. Gallen by H. Tschudy & Co. from 1929 through 1964.[4] The 1950 redesign therefore occurred during this period of publication under Tschudy.
Meaning and Symbolism
The 1950 header change was explicitly described by the journal’s own editor as a move away from claiming to represent Swiss art in general.[3] This suggests the new masthead was intended to reflect a more focused editorial identity rather than a broad national mandate.
Typography and Design
While the Swiss graphic designer Roger Virgile Geiser (1923-1994) is documented as an engraver, painter, and teacher active in poster and logo design during this period,[5] no verifiable source connects him to the Schweizer Kunst masthead. Claims attributing the 1950s logo to Geiser cannot be confirmed by the available evidence.
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