Background
Max Bill was born on December 22, 1908, in Winterthur, Switzerland, into the family of Erwin and Marie (Geiger) Bill.
Bill studied at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts and, later, at the Bauhaus.
Bill studied at the Bauhaus.
Max Bill was born on December 22, 1908, in Winterthur, Switzerland, into the family of Erwin and Marie (Geiger) Bill.
Bill studied at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts and, later, at the Bauhaus.
His art was a form of Constructivism that relied on mathematical formulae to build up components from which the work was constructed. He joined the association of modern Swiss artists, Allianz, and in 1941 founded the Allianz Press. In addition to publishing and teaching, Bill focused on product design.
The expression of Bauhaus Functionalism was central to his art. In 1947, he founded the Institute for Progressive Culture and mounted a series of exhibitions that culminated in 1951 in an important retrospective exhibition of his work by the Sao Paulo Museum. That same year, Bill developed a "university" for design techniques from his appointed position as Rector of a Hochschule fur Gestaltung (Institute for Design) at Ulm.
His influence has been recognized worldwide - in Brazil he was awarded the Grand Prix for sculpture at the Sao Paulo Biennale of 1951, and, in Italy, the Grand Prix for Swiss Pavilion at the Milan Triennale in 1951. He has held more than 200 one-man exhibitions of his work.
He worked on architecture and product form. From 1961 - 1964, he was the head architect of the Building and Design Sectors for the Swiss National Exhibit in Lausanne '64. He became professor at the State School for Fine Arts in Hamburg in 1967 and received awards, honors and an honorary degree. In 1968, received the Zurich Art Award and has been exhibiting in galleries and exhibition halls since 1928.
His Constructivist sculptures for public squares as well as his paintings have become popular in America, Europe and Asia. He began writing monographs, catalogues and his own writings in the 50's. His printwork played an important role as well (created 14 book folio works). Max Bill died at the age of 86 years on December 9, 1994 during a visit to Berlin. His estate is in the hands of his Community of Heirs.
Radiazoneduplicate
Doppelfarben (in the cross 1-2-3-4)
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Rotation um Lila
Four Equal Groups of Four
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Aus Portfolio Kinderstern
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Konzentration von elementarfarben
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Vier gleiche farbgruppen im weissen feld
Fläche im Raum von einer Linie begrenzt
Acht farben im horizontal-diagonal-quadtrat
1-4 um excentrum IV
Strahlung zu gelb
Verwanderte eikon des weissen quadrates
Aus violettem kern
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Four Identical Large Parts III
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Pythagoräisches dreieck im quadrat II
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Blauer kern
Junghans Clock
Stabilisierter kern
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Radiazone bleu
Grüner Kern
Hommage à Picasso
Expansion in Four Directions
Dynamische farbdurchdringung
Serigrafia
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Auflösung von lila
Einheit aus drei gleichen zylindern
3-8 Eck
Radiation of Pink
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Compression to Purple
Komposition
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Eight Colour Groups
Zerstrahlung aus Rotem Kern
Three Colours Surrounded by Equal Amounts of Black and White
Frauenkopf
Sun Lamp
Fifteen Variations on a Single Theme, v. 14
Area of a pentagon in space with plain circumference
WEISSE KOMPRESSION AUS KOMPLEMENTÄRFARBEN
Olympische Spiele Munchen
Red Nuclear
Junghans Wall Clock (model 32-0389)
1+2+3+4 in weiss
Verdichtung aus Gelb
Blau-violettes horizontal-vertikal-quadrat
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Floor Lamp
Geometric Composition
Vier uberlagerte zonen
Constellations
Helles zentrum
Konstruktion um das thema 3-4-5
Radiation of Purple
Viertelung eines quadrates
Radiazone violeta
Verdichtung zu caput mortuum
Variation 8
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Vier weisse felder
Energien im Blau
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Milde Zonen
Bill was also involved in politics. He was elected to the Zurich municipal council in 1961.
As a designer and artist, Bill sought to create forms which visually represent the New Physics of the early 20th century. He sought to create objects so that the new science of form could be understood by the senses: that was as a concrete art. Thus Bill was not a rationalist – as was typically thought – but rather a phenomenologist. One who understands embodiment as the ultimate expression of a concrete art. In this way he was not so much extending as re-interpreting Bauhaus theory. Yet curiously Bill's critical interpreters have not really grasped this fundamental issue.
Quotations: “I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of mathematical thinking.”
From 1932 to 1936 Max Bill was a member of the Parisian group of artists "Abstraction-Création." From 1967 to 1971, he served as a member of the Swiss National Council.
After a liaison with Nusch Éluard, Bill married the cellist and photographer Binia Mathilde Spoerri in January 1931. She died in 1988. From 1974 he was living together with art historian Angela Thomas; they married in 1991.