Hans Erni was a prolific Swiss artist and graphic designer, producing posters, murals, paintings, sculptures, stamps, and banknotes. He frequently designed posters that reflected his social, political, and environmental activism—in 2011, at the age of 101, he unveiled the 39-foot high poster Forests are Life for the United Nations Year of the Forest. Erni created this terrifying image—popularly known as “Death in a Water Glass”—during a time of increased attention to issues of water safety in Switzerland, one of the first countries to emphasize environmental issues on a national scale. At the time, the Swiss media consistently highlighted chemical spills and general pollution as a matter of serious concern. Winner of the Swiss Poster Award, this is one of the first posters to symbolize the mortal dangers of pollution to humankind. It is also the only design in this exhibition to predate the formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.