Walther Koch’s Winterkurort Davos, created in 1905, presents the Swiss Alpine resort as a landscape of poised winter calm. Snow-laden trees rise prominently at the left, their rounded forms framing a broad view across still blue water towards a sharply articulated mountain range. Above the scene, the destination’s name is announced in commanding lettering; below, the inscription ‘1560 M. GRAUBÜNDEN. SCHWEIZ’ locates Davos by altitude, canton and country. The result is both expansive landscape and concise advertisement, turning geography into desire through a striking contrast of cool blues, warm earth tones and brilliant snow.

The poster belongs to a period in which rail travel and an emerging culture of winter tourism were reshaping Alpine destinations. Davos was promoted not only for its scenery, but as a place associated with fresh air, health, sport and fashionable leisure. Koch’s design communicates those attractions without crowding the landscape with visitors or narrative incident. Instead, atmosphere does the persuasive work: clear air, open distance and an almost pristine stillness offer an idealised encounter with the mountains. The German title, meaning ‘winter resort Davos’, makes the commercial message direct, while the carefully staged panorama gives it emotional force.

A closer look

The foreground provides the poster’s strongest graphic forms. Heavy accumulations of snow sit upon the trees in soft, layered masses, with muted green foliage and brown branches emerging beneath. These rounded shapes are set against the crisp geometry of the distant peaks, creating a productive tension between softness and angularity. Across the lower foreground, dotted and stippled passages suggest granular snow and gently changing ground rather than describing every surface naturalistically.

From this sheltered foreground, the composition opens towards the centre. The calm lake acts as a horizontal interval between trees and mountains, carrying subdued blue reflections and slight tonal variations that imply depth. Small rocks appear beneath or close to the water’s surface, a modest detail within an otherwise simplified scene. Beyond, the mountain chain stretches across the full width of the poster, its snowfields broken into facets of white, ochre and shadowed blue. The peaks are dramatic without being forbidding: their sharp silhouettes are softened by the broad, muted sky, where pale yellowish notes suggest winter sunlight.

Typography is integral to the visual hierarchy. ‘WINTERKURORT DAVOS’ occupies the upper centre in bold capitals, immediately establishing the destination before the eye descends into the landscape. The smaller line at the foot functions almost like a geographic caption, with the altitude of 1,560 metres reinforcing Davos’s elevated setting. Dark vertical trunks at the right edge and the substantial tree forms at the left hold the vista between them, while the surrounding graphic border gives the entire design a firm architectural structure.

Context and significance

Early twentieth-century travel posters had to work at a distance and communicate quickly. Koch answers that demand through simplified contours, broad areas of colour and a clear progression from headline to scenery to practical location text. Yet the poster is more than an efficient announcement. Its selective vision of Davos reveals how mountain resorts were being imagined for a new travelling public: not as remote or hostile terrain, but as accessible places of elegance, recreation and restorative climate.

What remains particularly compelling is the restraint of the appeal. There are no busy platforms, crowded hotels or conspicuous sporting figures. Davos is represented through still water, deep snow and luminous distance, allowing the landscape itself to become the attraction. Koch’s poster thus preserves an early vision of Alpine winter tourism in which modern promotion and an ideal of untouched nature coexist with remarkable ease.

Choosing the right size and finish

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The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this art print.

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This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.