Curator, Juliet Kinchin: In the 1920s and 1930s, many designers were actively aspiring to make a more equitable open kind of society. And in Germany, were the proliferation of civic exhibitions on a whole range of themes: education, sport, the new architecture, the new kitchen, the new housework.
One such exhibition in 1930 was, specifically on the subject of hygiene, and the poster was designed by Erich Mrozek. You can see the design is purely typographic. It's about this idea of purifying and purging the language of art and design, just as people needed to purify and create healthy bodies and lifestyles for this new world. The vivid yellow ground communicates this sense of sunshine and health.
At this time, there were real health issues with tuberculosis outbreaks. And this theme of health and hygiene was intimately connected with the development of modernism—the idea that the new architecture, the new world should be full of air and light and sunshine. But of course, with hindsight, the idea of hygiene and Germany at this time has uneasy overtones of racial and ethnic cleansing.