WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Karl Gerstner

Karl Gerstner

Karl Gerstner

Artist

WA-00027261

Mixed Media

Representation

None documented

7

Institutional Exhibitions

10

Works in Collection

32

Assets Indexed

0

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ1707424 ULAN500047251

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Posters from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1976

No image

Designing Programs/Programming Designs: An Exhibition of Karl Gerstner

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1973

No image

Word and Image: Posters and Typography from the Graphic Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, 1879�1967

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1968

No image

The Responsive Eye

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1965

No image

The Photographic Poster

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

No image

Recent Acquisitions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960–1961

No image

The Package

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2136
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Karl Gerstner was a Swiss graphic designer, typographer, and visual artist who developed systematic approaches to color, form, and typography in the postwar period. Working across print design, corporate identity, and concrete art, he created modular systems that treated design as a problem-solving discipline rather than an aesthetic exercise. His work bridged Swiss modernism and algorithmic thinking, establishing principles that influenced generations of designers and artists concerned with rational order and visual logic.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Mixed Media

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York

Canonical record

Artworks (10)

Karl Gerstner: Opjekte

Karl Gerstner: Opjekte

1966 · Photolithograph

33 3/4 x 23 1/8" (85.8 x 58.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

(Number 1 of a newspaper campaign)

1964 · Silkscreen

50 1/4 x 35 1/2" (127.6 x 90.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

(Number 4 of a newspaper campaign)

1964 · Silkscreen

50 1/4 x 35 1/2" (127.6 x 90.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

(Number 3 of a newspaper campaign)

1964 · Silkscreen

50 1/4 x 35 1/2" (127.6 x 90.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

National Zeitung

1964 · Silkscreen

each: 50 1/4 x 35 1/2" (12.7 x 90.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Piet Zwart: Typographie (Typed essay on Zwart by Karl Gerstner)

1960 · Photocopy

11 1/2 × 8 1/8" (29.2 × 20.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Ins Gesicht Geschrieben: Braun SM3

Ins Gesicht Geschrieben: Braun SM3

1960 · Offset lithograph

overall: 66 × 46 3/4" (167.6 × 118.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Gegen Siebenschläfer National Zeitung

Gegen Siebenschläfer National Zeitung

1959 · Photolithograph

50 × 35" (127 × 88.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

3 Liberale Partei: Liste 3

1959 · Silkscreen

50 1/4 × 35 1/2" (127.6 × 90.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Auch Du bist Liberal

Auch Du bist Liberal

1959 · Offset lithograph

50 1/2 x 35 1/2" x (127.6 x 90.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 10 artworks →

Artwork sources (1)

10 published of 20 catalogued · 8 with image

MoMA
10 publishedof 20 catalogued8 img

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Karl Gerstner (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia

Relationships

2

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Wright

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction