Max Bill — the cult figure who shaped 20th-century design and architecture
“I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of mathematical thinking.”
Swiss painter, sculptor, architect and graphic designer. One of the most versatile exponents of the Bauhaus avant-garde principles in Germany after the end of WWII in 1945. His insistence on using a mathematical basis for every form of art is reflected in his paintings, which are characterized by his geometric frequency designs and his meticulous planning of tonal relationships. Its graphic and industrial designs present strong functionality. Between 1935 and 1953 he created, in the field of sculpture, different variations on the theme of the infinity ribbon or tape of Möebius in polished metal and stone. He exerted a great influence on art and European industrial design as a teacher and director of the schools of Zurich and Ulm, and as the organizer of art exhibitions, especially concrete art (term referring to purely geometric, non-figurative forms). He has also been known for his influence in Argentina and Brazil, where he introduced the concept of concrete art and has been a source of inspiration for several groups of artists.
He was born in Winterthur (Switzerland). From 1924 to 1927 he studied goldsmithing at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, where he was influenced by Dadaism and Cubism. From 1927 to 1929 he studied arts at the Bauhaus in Dessau, where he approached the functionalism of design with professors such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Oskar Schlemmer. When he finished his studies he returned to Zurich to devote himself to painting, architecture and graphic design. In 1930, he created his own architecture studio and already as a member of the Deutscher Werkbund, he performs the modern-style Nuebühl estate, near Zurich. In 1931 he adopted Theo van Doesburg's theory of "concrete art", according to which it was possible to achieve universality with clarity. In 1932 he worked as a sculptor and joined some artistic organizations such as the Abstraction-Création, the Allianz group of artists from Switzerland, the Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) and the Union des Artistes Modernes (UAM) from Paris.
THE ARCHITECT OF TIME
In 1944 Max Bill broke into industrial design, designing an aluminum clock for Junghans, a firm he collaborated with for several years designing wall, kitchen and wrist clocks with rationalist style and industrial aesthetic. One of those wall clocks is on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.. Junghans "Max Bill" wristwatches are still being produced and are appreciated by watch enthusiasts and collectors. He designed a minimalist stool, the Ulmer Hocker (1954), one of his best-known designs. Organized the exhibition "Die gute industrieform", which aimed to promote the high quality of industrial design objects.
The Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG, Higher School of Design or Ulm School) was a design university school that continued the Bauhaus tradition, based in Ulm, Germany. Founded in 1951, by, among others, Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill, the latter, the first principal of the school. HfG quickly gained international recognition. During its operation, new approaches in design were researched and put into practice, within the departments of: Visual Communication, Industrial Design, Construction, Informatics, and later Cinematography. The HfG Building was designed by Max Bill and remains, today, an important and functional building within Ulm University’s campus. The HfG was one of the most progressive institutions teaching design and environmental design in the decades. the 50s and 60s, pioneer in the studies and professional profile of today's designer.
At this institution he was director of the architecture and product design departments between 1951 and 1956. At this school Bill defended Bauhaus functionalism and geometric formalism, as he believed that forms based on mathematical laws possessed aesthetic purity, and therefore universality. The history of HfG was shaped through innovation and change, in line with the school’s own image as an experimental institution. This led to countless modifications to the content, the organization of classes and the ongoing internal conflicts that influenced the final decision to close the HfG in 1968.
His projects tried to represent the mathematical complexity of New Physics in the early 20th century. He tried to create objects so that this new science of the form can be understood by the senses. A good example of this is his work with the Moebius band. This approach to design was then continued by Hans Gugelot at the same HfG Ulm. In 1957, and after leaving the HfG of Ulm, he founded his own studio in Zurich and devoted himself to sculpture, painting and architecture. In 1964 he was appointed Chief Architect of the "Education and Creation" Pavilion at the National Exhibition of Switzerland and Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects. From 1967 to 1971 he became a member of the National Council of Switzerland, and later became a professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg and president of Environmental Design, from 1967 to 1974. In 1973 he became an Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Literature and Art of Flanders, in Brussels. In 1976 he became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts. He died on December 9, 1994 in Berlin.
SCULPTURES
However, he is best known for his sculptures, characterised by smooth, elegant, spiralling abstract forms in stone or polished metal. He borrowed van Doesburg’s word “concrete art” to describe his work in this vein, popularising it in Switzerland instead of “abstract.” He travelled to Argentina and Brazil in 1941 to introduce the concept of Concrete sculpture. He was a tireless promoter of his ideas (he wrote several books and numerous articles in English and German) and organised exhibitions of abstract art). His sculptures have been regarded as Minimal art forerunners. Still, they reflect a subtle blending of mathematics and intuition, and some Minimalists, such as Donald Judd and Robert Morris, have disputed his influence.
Architecture
Bill’s work as an architect included his own home in Zurich (1932–3) and the lauded Hochschule für Gestaltung (College of Design) in Ulm (1951–5), where he built an austerely elegant complex of buildings delicately placed in a romantic setting on a shoestring budget. From 1951 to 1957, he co-founded the school and the architecture and product design departments’ director.
Exhibitions
Bill executed many public European sculptures and exhibited them extensively in galleries and museums, including a retrospective at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1968–69. He had his first exhibition in the United States at the Staempfli Gallery in New York City 1963. He was the subject of retrospectives at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1974. He participated in documentas I (1955), II (1959), and III (1964). In 1993, he received the Praemium Imperiale for sculpture, awarded by the Emperor of Japan. Bill is credited with being “the spark that lighted the fuse of Brazil’s artistic revolution” and the country’s “movement toward concrete art” with his 1951 retrospective at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. He strongly influenced Brazilian artists like Franz Weissmann.
READ MORE:
https://www.intercult.org/max-bill/
https://www.ft.com/content/e233ecd2-85d7-11e9-97ea-05ac2431f453
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/exhibition_remembering-max-bill--the-one-man-bauhaus/45123632
https://wornandwound.com/art-time-max-bill-die-gute-form/
VIDEOS:
Max Bill and Georges Vantongerloo: A Lasting Friendship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxhdnQwB2VY
Max Bill, the Master's Vision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRNZDzgdb0
Max Bill - Ulm/Bauhaus