Over a Century of Ski Posters
Specialist Lauren Cooper takes us on a tour of ski posters from the late nineteenth century through the 1990s
Ernest Haskell, Truth / Xma’s, 1896; Jules Abel Faivre, Sports D’Hiver Chamonix, 1905; and Francisco Tamagno, Chamonix / Mont Blanc, 1910.
The first American ski poster, which may well be the earliest ski poster from anywhere in the world, was an advertisement for the magazine Truth in 1896. The concept of skiing was so new to its audience that contemporary critics didn’t even recognize the sport, illustrated by a female skier in a fashionable coat, scarf, and pointed hat—a single ski pole in hand, for balance and steering. Since then, ski posters have become one of the most popular collecting categories.
The next, bigger wave of ski poster design was led by the Chemin de Fer’s campaigns to bring tourism to France’s winter destinations. The image of another fabulously dressed lady with a single ski pole is the most famous of Jules Abel Faivre’s few posters, cementing it as one of the earliest and finest European ski posters. Chamonix was one of the first and most popular ski resorts in Europe, and hosted the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924.
Five years after Abel Faivre’s seminal image, Tamagno created another striking ski poster, destined to become a classic, beloved by poster collectors, historians and fans of the sport.
Herbert Matter poster: Pontresina, 1935; Herbert Bayer posters: Mont Tremblant / Prov Quebec, 1939; and Ski in Aspen Colorado, 1946.
Swiss graphic designers were unrivaled in their avant-garde use of photomontage to engage viewers through their posters. No two artists better represent the synthesis of typography, photography, and design innovation into commercial art than the Herberts—Matter & Bayer.
The Pontresina image of a skier, highlighting his goggles in the snow, is part of the extraordinary series of Swiss photomontage travel posters that Herbert Matter designed from 1934 to 1936. These works consist of close-up images that seem to spring at the public, against cleverly manipulated montage backgrounds. The series was a revolution in both the concept of the travel poster and the nature of photographic advertising images in general. This is one of Matter’s most recognizable images.
After moving to the USA in 1938, Herbert Bayer was employed by Mont Tremblant, a ski resort in Canada. Later, in 1946, he employed a similar technique for his Ski in Aspen poster, replacing the maple leaf he used in Canada with an aspen leaf at the center of the image. A jumping skier in front of the leaf is another callback to his earlier poster.
Dartmouth Carnival / Jottunheimer Eiskörneval, 1935; Dartmouth Carnival Silver Anniversary, 1935; John Ryland Scotford, Jr., Dartmouth Winter Carnival, 1940.
One of the longest-standing ski poster traditions in the United States is for Dartmouth’s Winter Carnival, which began in 1911 and continues to the present day. The posters, designed by Dartmouth students and (for some of the earlier designs, recent alumni), provide a glimpse of the early years of the sport in the American Northeast, including a tour of ski fashion and design history through the decades; specimens from the 1930s-50s come up for auction most frequently.
“The 1935 Carnival celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary with a Norse theme of ‘Jotunheim Iskarneval’ with a surprisingly morbid snow sculpture: an altar with symbols of death (an hourglass, a skull, a scythe).”
Dorothy Waugh, National and State Parks, circa 1934.
Accomplished WPA artist Dorothy Waugh designed 17 posters for the National and State Parks between 1934 and 1936, using her own signature combination of bold typography and graphics. Her pared-down two- and three-color graphics create a strong visual impact and are the epitome of American Modernism and Art Deco. A 2026 exhibition at Poster House explains that “this geometric, modernist composition reflects Waugh’s fusion of avant-garde with her own unique visual language.”
Dorothy Waugh, Winter Sports / National & State Parks, circa 1934.
Dwight Clark Shepler, Sun Valley / Union Pacific, circa 1940.
Sun Valley was created as a destination resort to encourage people to ride the railroad out west; it was the brainchild of Averill Harriman, Chairman of the Board of Union Pacific Railroad, who was himself an avid skier. The Ketchum Idaho area was scouted out by Count Felix Schaffgotsch who reported back to Harriman that “it contains more delightful features for a winter sports center than any other place I have seen in the United States, Switzerland or Austria.” It is fitting then, that some of the best American ski posters are those touting Sun Valley as a year-round destination – some calling the resort town “Thrilling” “Fun for all the family” and “The ‘Meeting Place’ of the ski world.” Sun Valley’s outdoor ice skating rink, right behind the resort’s eponymous lodge, has long been the home for celebrities, famous skaters, a skating school and the resort’s famous ice show.
Phil Von Phul, Sun Valley Let’s Go! / Union Pacific, circa 1940.
Lange, 1970s–90s.
When one hears the advertising adage “sex sells,” ski posters may not be the first genre to come to mind. However, that is exactly what the Lange ski boot company was banking on when they designed this long-standing ad campaign. In 1970, the first Lange Girl poster appeared with the phrase “Soft Inside,” and the rest was history. While many of the Lange Girls were only modeling the boots, the company has also used top athletes to represent the brand. Famous Lange girls include, but are not limited to, Pamela Anderson, Tonya Harding, Federica Brignone and Julia Mancuso.
Lange, 1970s–90s.
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