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POSTER
ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPH
MAX BILL
1979
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Superb original lithographic poster by Max Bill.
Max Bill, a multi-talented artist, was among other things a painter, sculptor, designer, architect and graphic artist. In the early 20s, he studied at the Zürich School of Applied Arts, where he trained as a goldsmith.
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After a lecture by Le Corbusier, he enrols at the Bauhaus in Dessau. He studied with Josef Albers, Oskar Schlemmer, painters Paul Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and architect Hannes Meyer. At the Bauhaus school, he studied constructivism, which he decided to reappropriate by including geometry and mathematical principles. It was during this period that these two disciplines came to play an important role in his creative process. I think it's possible to develop an art based largely on mathematical thinking", he says.
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In 1929, he returned to Zurich and worked as an architect and designer.
In 1932, with the painter Jean-Arp, he met Piet Mondrian and Georges Vantongerloo, whose influence led him to join the Abstraction-création movement.
In 1936, in the catalog for the exhibition Problèmes actuels de la peinture et de la sculpture suisses (Current Problems of Swiss Painting and Sculpture ) at the Kunsthaus Zurich, he formulated the principles of concrete art. For Max Bill, "concrete is the opposite of abstract: figurative art is abstract from reality, while non-figurative art, which is a pure creation of the mind, becomes concrete through its materialization, as something existing in reality."
From 1937 until his death, Max Bill participated in and organized a number of exhibitions, and held a number of positions in culture and the arts in Germany and Switzerland.
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The item presented here is a lithographic poster from 1979 for an organ concert at the Amriswill church in Switzerland. Edition Erker Presse, a well-known publisher specializing in art prints and artists' books. Its design and colors are absolutely typical of Max Bill's signature, and are used in several of his works, including his collaboration with Omega.
It is printed on cellulose paper in a format of 100×70 cm. The overall condition is good, with very vivid colors. There are a few cracks, slight creases and handling marks, typical of all old posters. It has never been framed and will be delivered rolled and carefully packaged.
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Finally, a close relationship between his design and watchmaking has existed throughout his career. Max Bill designed a number of pieces for Junghans, with a recognizable minimalist, Bauhaus-inspired style. In 1987, Omega launched a collaboration with several artists, including Max Bill, who signed a design for the "Art collection" for a quantity of 999 pieces. "Art in a limited edition and time in an unlimited edition", said the Omega advertisement of the time. Then, a year before his death, in 1993, Movado presented the "Bill-Time", a harmonious construction of colors integrated into an octagonal silver case produced in only 99 pieces.
