ALLIANZ
Vereinigung Moderner Schweizer Kunstler
Max Bill Max Bill [Designer]
Max Bill [Designer]: ALLIANZ [Vereinigung Moderner Schweizer Kunstler]. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zurich, 1947. Text in German. Slim 12mo. Perfect bound thick wrappers. 64 pp. 42 black and white illustrations. Essays, plates, artist listings and advertisements. Designed by Max Bill. Wrappers lightly toned, otherwise a nearly fine, fresh copy.
5.75 x 8.25 perfect bound exhibition catalog [18 oktober - 23 november 1947] with 64 pages and 42 black and white reproductions of work by members of the Allianz Group. Text contributions by Leo Leuppi, Jean Arp, Max Bill, Le Corbusier, Richard Paul Lohse and Walter J. Moeschlin. Printed by Buchdruckerei Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Zurich. This exhibition marked the tenth anniversary of the Allianz.
Allianz was a group of Swiss artists that formed in 1937 to advocate the concrete art theories of Max Bill with more emphasis on color than their Constructivist counterparts. The first Allianz group advocated exhibition, Neue Kunst in der Schweiz was held in Basil, Ksthalle in 1938, and was followed by a second at the Kunsthaus in Zurich in 1942. Further shows were held at the Galerie des Eaux Vives in Zurich, starting with two in 1944. Allianz exhibitions continued into the 1950s. Allianz members included Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Robert A. Gessner, Camille Graeser, Fritz Glarner, John Konstantin Hansegger, Max Huber, Leo Leuppi, Richard Paul Lohse, Verena Loewensberg.
Includes work by Otto Abt, Hans Aeschbacher, Hans Arp, Alfred Bartoletti, Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Johann Burla, Gertrud Debrunner, Theo Eble, Heinrich Eichmann, Lili Erzinger, Isabelle Farner, Hans Fischli, Heini Gantenbein, Camille Graeser, Diogo Graf, Hansegger, Heuer, Hans Hinterreiter, J. J. Honegger, Max Huber, Walter Klinger, Jean Kohler, C. A. Laely, Le Corbusier, Leo Leuppi, Vreni Lowensberg, Richard P. Lohse, Maass, Charles Meystre, Walter J. Moeschlin, Meret Oppenheim, Carla Prina, Julia Ris, Schiess, Kurt Seligmann, Jurg Spiller, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Otto Tschumi, Rudolf Urech, Max von Moos, Gerard Vulliamy, Albert Wahren, Neil Walden and Hugo Weber.
The difference between the design problems which have to be solved every day and works of painting and sculpture is merely one of degree, not one of principle. — Max Bill
Max Bill [1908-1994] achieved mastery in many areas: avant-garde architecture, the fine arts, product design, typography, journalism, research and teaching and even politics. He was a true 'uomo universale' who represented the concept of 'concrete art' by creating works 'by means of its intrinsic nature and rules', and a lifelong proponent of Die Gute Form (good design).
In 1949 he conceived the 'gute form' exhibition, which travelled to Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The exhibition was regarded as an important signal in a Europe which had been destroyed by war and in the reconstruction phase was also looking for new directions in design. An economical use of resources, functionality and long useful life were believed to be what was required -- product features which were aimed at durability and contradicted the consumer society and the concept of disposability.
In 1950 Bill, the designer Otl Aicher and Inge Aicher-Scholl decided to found a college of design in Ulm. They regarded the reconstruction period in Germany as an opportunity to revive the ground-breaking philosophy of the interdisciplinary teachings of the Bauhaus in terms of both style and content, but now taking into account new production technology. Bill was appointed architect and rector of the new college. In contrast to the prevalent opinion at other colleges of design he taught that industrial design is closely linked to social and political responsibility and must not be influenced by considerations of profit.
Bill rejected the label 'designer,' regarding himself as a product designer, entirely in the service of the public. Thus, apparently insignificant objects of everyday life were just as important as furniture design. His output ranged from jewellery designs, the Patria typewriter (1944), a shaving brush (1945), a mirror and hairbrush set (1946), a wash stand for the students' rooms in Ulm (1955), the aluminium handle for a piece of kitchen furniture (1956), crockery for Hutschenreuther (1956) right down to the legendary Junghans kitchen clock (1956/57).