Allianzen

The exhibition highlights the friendship and collaboration between three major figures of the European avant-garde: Hans Arp (1886–1966), Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943) and Max Bill (1908–1994). The focus lies on their role and participation in important artists' groups and magazines of the 1930s and 1940s.

Allianzen outlines the commitment of avant-garde artists' groups to non-figurative art. In the 1930s, a time of great unrest, groups and associations of artists emerged with the aim of defending and disseminating non-representational art. Initially in Paris, where groups such as Cercle et Carré and Abstraction-Création were formed, then in Switzerland with the Allianz association, which brought together modern artists and promoted their works through joint exhibitions and printed editions published by Allianz-Verlag.

The exhibition shows portfolio works that were created as joint artistic and publishing productions during or in the years before the Second World War – at a time of increasing marginalisation of the artistic avant-garde. Alongside the portfolios, activities included the publication of books and magazines as well as participation in exhibitions. The show includes drawings, paintings, sculptures and reliefs by Arp, Taeuber-Arp and Bill, some of which were represented in important historical exhibitions. Letters complement the exhibition and shed light on the interaction between the three protagonists. The designs for the sixth issue of Plastique Plastic, the magazine for non-objective art edited by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, are being shown in an exhibition for the first time ever.

The works come from the Fondazione Marguerite Arp and the collection of Chantal and Jakob Bill, as well as from institutional and private collections. The idea for the exhibition came from Jakob Bill.

Curated by Stefanie Gschwend and Simona Martinoli

This exhibition is a cooperation with the Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Locarno, where a complementary display is on show from 31 March – 3 November 2024.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the publication allianzen. arp, taeuber-arp, bill has been published by Scheidegger & Spiess with texts by Isabelle Ewig, Walburga Krupp and Jakob Bill. Exhibition price CHF 42 in our shop.

1925 /
14–25 November: 

Exhibition La peinture surréaliste in the Gallery Pierre, Paris: First exhibition of the Surrealists around André Breton.

1–21 December:

Exhibition L’Art d’aujourd’hui, organised by theGalerie de la Chambre syndicale des beaux-arts in Paris: Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp are represented with works.

1928 /
Autumn:

Group Z is founded in Dessau by Max Bill and Hans Fischli. Further members: Annemarie Hennings, Hilde Rantzsch, Clemens Röseler, Freddo Bortoluzzi.

1929 / 
Spring:

The Group Cercle et Carré is founded in Paris by Michel Seuphor and Joaquìn Torrès-Garcia.

6 October until 3 November:

Exhibition Abstrakte und Surrealistische Malerei und Plastik in the Kunsthaus Zurich: with works by Hans Arp and Georges Vantongerloo.

Autumn:

Foundation of the (only briefly existing) group Die Augen in Zurich by Max Bill and Hanns R. Welti.

1930 /
15 March:

Publication of the first issue of the magazine Cercle et Carré (3 issues).

18 April until 1 May:

First and only international exhibition of the group Cercle et Carré in the Galerie 23, 23 rue la Boétie, Paris: 44 participants, including Hans Arp, Wassily Kandinsky, Le Corbusier, Piet Mondrian, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Georges Vantongerloo, Hanns R. Welti.

April:

The group Art Concret is founded by Theo van Doesburg, Jean Hélion, Otto Carlsund and Léon Tutundjean.

April:

First and only issue of the magazine Art Concret with the "Manifesto of Concrete Art" by Theo van Doesburg.

Summer:

Dissolution of the group Cercle et Carré.

8 October until 10 November:

Exhibition Produktion in Paris in the Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Zurich.

1931 /
15 February:

Foundation of the group Abstraction-Création in Paris by Auguste Herbin and Georges Vantongerloo. Further memers are a.o. Kurt Seligmann, Albert Gleizes, František Kupka, Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Léon Tutundjian und Georges Valmier. At times, the group counts over 400 members in Europe and overseas.

Spring / Summer:

Publication of the last issue of the magazine De Stijl (special issue in honour of van Doesburgs after his death).

Winter:

The group Der Schritt weiter is founded in Bern by Tonio Ciolina, Max von Mühlenen, Hans Seiler and Albert Lindegger.

1932 /

Publication of the magazine Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif No. 1, Paris. The board of the Abstraction-Création group is now comprised of the following artists: Hans Arp, Albert Gleizes, Jean Hélion, Auguste Herbin, František Kupka, Léon Tutundjian, Georges Valmier and Georges Vantongerloo.

September:

The Bauhaus Dessau is closed by the National Socialist government and moves to Berlin.

1933 /

Publication of the magazine Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif No. 2, Paris.

January:

In Germany, the National Socialists come to power under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.

10 May:

Group33 is founded in Basel on the same day that burning of books take place in Germany.

Summer:

Due to increasing pressure fromthe National Socialists, the Bauhaus in Berlin is closed and discontinued by Mies van der Rohe.

22 December:

The Abstraction-Création group opens its exhibition space in Paris, 44, Avenue de Wagram: A total of 39 group members are showing their works on this occasion.

1934 /
19–31 January:

First exhibition of the group Abstraction-Création with Serge Brignoni, Alexander Calder, Hans Fischli, Fritz Glarner, Fritz Huf, Mainie Jellet, Hans Rudolf Schiess, Georges Vantongerloo, Alberto Vargas, Gérard Vulliamy.

2–14 February:

Second exhibition of the group Abstraction-Création with Etienne Béothy, Henri Jean Closon, Louis Fernandez, Barbara Hepworth, John Wardell Power, Enrico Prampolini, Kurt Seligmann, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Georges Valmier.

16–28 February:

Third exhibition of the group Abstraction-Création with Hans Erni and Otto Freundlich.

2–16 March:

Fourth exhibition of the group Abstraction-Création with Hans Arp, Ben Nicholson, Max Bill, Hans Erni, Auguste Herbin, Marlow Moss, Wolfgang Paalen, Paul Roubillotte, Lajos Tihanyi, Paule Vézelay.

30 March until 12 April:

Fifth exhibition of the groupAbstraction-Création with Louis Conne, Otto Freundlich, Albert Gleizes, Jean Albert Gorin, Jelinek, Taro Okamoto, Alfred Reth, Uli Schoop and Theo van Doesburg.

April:

Sixth exhibition of the groupAbstraction-Création as a solo exhibition with John Wardell Power.

30 April until 16 May:

Seventh exhibition of the group Abstraction-Création with Henri Jean Closon and Etienne Béothy.

1 June:

Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp leave the group Abstraction-Création. Publication of the magazine Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif No. 3, Paris. Leo Leuppi founds the Groupe Suisse Abstraction et Surréalisme artists' association in Zurich.

11 October until 4 November:

Exhibition Abstrakte Malerei und Plastik in the Kunsthaus Zurich with works by Hans Arp.

1935 /

Publication of the magazine Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif No. 4, Paris.

24 February bis 31 March:

Exhibition These, Antithese, Synthese in the Kunstmuseum Luzern initiated by Hans Erni. Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp are represented with works.

1936 /

Publication of the magazine Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif No. 5, Paris.

13 June until 22 July:

Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Max Bill participate in the exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik in the Kunsthaus Zurich, initiated by Leo Leuppi. For the first time, a representative selection of surrealist, concrete and abstract painters and sculptors from Switzerland are united in one exhibition. The catalogue includes Max Bill's statement on "concrete design".

Dissolution of the group Abstraction-Création.

1937 /
16 January until 14 February:

The exhibition Konstruktivisten in the Kunsthalle Basel dedicates a separate room to Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

February:

Publication of the magazine Plastique Plastic No. 1, Paris / New York, which is dedicated to Kasimir Malewitsch.

29 April:

Foundation of the group Allianz, Vereinigung moderner Schweizer Künstler by Leo Leuppi, Richard Paul Lohse Hans Rudolf Schiess, Walter Bodmer and Hans Erni in Zurich. Most of the members were identical to the participants in the Zurich exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik of 1936.

Summer:

Publication of Plastique Plastic No. 2, Paris / New York, on the topic of Dimensionisme by the Hungarian writer Charles Sirato. The issue is accompanied by the Alliance Manifesto signed by 22 artists.

19 July until 30 November:

Exhibition Entartete Kunst in the Hofgartenarkaden, Munich.

1938 / 9 January until 2 February:

Exhibition Neue Kunst in der Schweiz in the Kunsthalle Basel: First group exhibition of the Allianz group with Otto Abt, Alfred Bartoletti, Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Serge Brignoni, Theo Eble, Hans Erni, André Evard, Hans Fischli, Maria Clara Friedrich, Robert S. Gessner, Camille Graeser, Willy Hege, Karl Hindenlang, Anna Indermaur, Erhard Jacoby, Paul Klee, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Ernst Maass, Max von Moos, Walter Moeschlin, Hans Rudolf Schiess, Kurt Seligmann, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Gerard Vulliamy, A. Weisskopf, Walter K. Wiemken. Catalogue with texts by Leo Leuppi and Walter J. Moeschlin and with an introduction by Lucas Lichtenhan, Catalogue design and poster: Max Sulzbachner.

Spring:

Publication of Plastique Plastic No. 3, Paris / New York. Topic: Abstract art in the USA.

1939 /
Winter:

Publication of Plastique Plastic No. 4, Paris / New York, with collective novel L’homme qui a perdu son squelette.

Spring / Summer:

Publication of Plastique Plastic No. 5, Paris / New York with artists from the Allianz group and the continuation of L’homme qui a perdu son squelette.

1 September:

The invasion of Poland by the German Wehrmacht marks the beginning of the Second World War.

1940 /
May:

Invasion of France by the German Wehrmacht.

December:

Publication Almanach neuer Kunst in der Schweiz, published by the Allianz, Vereinigung moderner Schweizer Künstler, Zurich. Editing: Leo Leuppi and Richard P. Lohse with illustrations by: Otto Abt, Hans Aeschbach, Alfred Bartoletti, Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Serge Brignoni, Theo Eble, Hans Erni, Lili Erzinger, André Evard, Hans Fischli, Maria Clara Friedrich, Robert S. Gessner, Fritz Glarner, Camille Graeser, Willy Hege, Hans Hinterreiter, Anna Indermaur, Walter Kern, Paul Klee, Walter Klinger, Le Corbusier, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Richard Paul Lohse, Ernst Maass, Walter Johannes Moeschlin, Max von Moos, Otto Nebel, Meret Oppenheim, Hans Rudolf Schiess, Kurt Seligmann, Franz Stirnimann, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Otto Tschumi, Gérard Vulliamy, Adolf Weisskopf, Walter Kurt Wiemken. Texts by Max Bill, Siegfried Giedion, Walter Kern, Le Corbusier, Leo Leuppi, Dieter Roth, Kurt Seligmann, Gérard Vulliamy. Typography: Richard P. Lohse.

1941 /

Foundation of the publishing house Allianz-Verlag. The management is taken over by Max Bill. Collection of poems Jean Arp, poèmes sans prénoms with three drawings by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, published by Allianz-Verlag.

Portfolio 5 constructionen + 5 compositionen with ten original graphic sheets by Max Bill, Serge Brignoni, Hans Erni, Hans Fischli, Hans Hinterreiter, Max Huber, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg,Richard Paul Lohse and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, published by Allianz-Verlag.

Portfolio Max Bill, 10 original-lithos, published by Allianz-Verlag. Exhibition Allianz, Vereinigung moderner Schweizer Künstler in the Kunsthaus Zurich with Otto Abt, Alfred Bartoletti, Max Bill, Werner Bischof, Walter Bodmer, Serge Brignoni, Theo Eble, Hans Erni, Lili Erzinger, Hans Fischli, Robert S. Gessner, Camille Graeser, Marthe Hékimi, Karl Hindenlang, Hans Hinterreiter, Max Hu- ber, Anna Indermaur, Walter Kern, Paul Klee, Walter Klinger, Jean Kohler, Le Corbusier, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Richard Paul Lohse, Ernst Maass, Max von Moos, Walter Moeschlin, Meret Oppenheim, Petra Petitpierre, Hans R. Schiess, Jean Pierre Schmid, Jürg Spiller, Christian Staub, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Otto Tschumi, Hugo Weber, Walter Kurt Wiemken. Exhibition organisation: Leo Leuppi and Max Bill. Catalogue with a text by Max Bill. Typography of the catalogue and the poster: Max Bill.

1943 /
1 January:

Pulication of the portfolio 10 Origin, second portfolio ot the Allianz-Verlag, with partly multicoloured original graphic sheets by Hans Arp, Max Bill, Sonia Delaunay, César Domela, Wassily Kandinsky, Leo Leuppi, Richard P. Lohse, Alberto Magnelli, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Georges Vantongerloo. With texts by Hans Arp, Max Bill, Wassily Kandinsky and Alberto Magnelli.

Publication les derniers 9 dessins de sophie taeuber-arp with drawings by Sophie Taeuber-Arp and a foreword by Gabrielle Buffet-Picabia, published by the Allianz-Verlag.

1944 /
18 March until 16 April:

Max Bill organises the exhibition konkrete kunst at the Kunsthalle Basel, in which Bill, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp are represented. Max Bill publishes the Bulletin abstrakt/konkret for the Galerie des Eaux Vives in Zurich, which appears from 1944 to 1945 in twelve issues (eleven issues – no. 9/10 is one issue). The special issue 6 is dedicated to Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp with a cover designed by Arp and graphics by Arp and Taeuber-Arp.

1945 /

Publication arp: 11 configurations with eleven original woodcuts by Hans Arp and texts by Hans Arp, Max Bill and Gabrielle Buffet- Picabia, published by the Allianz-Verlag.

8 May:

Germany's capitulation.

1947 /

Hans Arp and Max Bill are working on the ultimately unpublished edition of Plastique Plastic No. 6.

18 October until 23 November:

Exhibition Allianz, Vereinigung moderner Schweizer Künstler in the Kunsthaus Zurich, with Otto Abt, Hans Aeschbacher, Hans Arp, Alfred Bartoletti, Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Johannes Burla, Gertrud Debrunner, Theo Eble, Heinrich Eichmann, Lili Erzinger, Isabelle Farner, Hans Fischli, Heini Gantenbein, Camille Graeser, Diogo Graf, Hansegger (i. e. Hans Egger), Paula Heuer, Hans Hinterreiter, J. J. Honegger, Max Huber, Walter Klinger, Jean Kohler, C. A. Laely, Le Corbusier, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Richard P. Lohse, Ernst Maass, Charles Meystre, Walter Moeschlin, Meret Oppenheim, Julia Ris, Hans R. Schiess, Kurt Seligmann, Jürg Spiller, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Otto Tschumi, Rudolf Urech, Max Von Moos, Gérard Vulliamy, Albert Währen, Nell Walden, Hugo Weber.

1954 /
23 January until 24 February:

Exhibition Allianz, Vereinigung moderner Schweizer Künstler in the Helmhaus Zurich (last exhibition under the collective term «Allianz») with Hans Aeschbacher, Max Bill, Walter Bodmer, Serge Brignoni, Elsa Burkhardt, Gertrud Debrunner, Arthur Dillier, Theo Eble, Lili Erzinger, Hans Fischli, Robert Gessner, Jean Georges Gisiger, Diogo Graf, Camille Graeser, Hans Hofmann, Anna Indermaur, Walter Klinger, Jean Kohler, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Richard Paul Lohse, Hansjörg Mattmüller, René Monney, Petra Petit-pierre, Julia Ris-Eble, Dieter Roth, Jürg Spiller, Rudolf Urech, Maria Vieira, Hugo Weber, Marcel Wyss. Catalogue with a text by Leo Leuppi.

Biography

Jean / Hans Arp

1886 /

Born on September 16 in Strasbourg. His father has roots in Kiel, his mother in Alsace. He grows up bilingually. He would later use both his German first name Hans and his French name Jean.

1905-1907 /

Studies at the Grossherzoglich-Sächsische Kunstschule Weimar under Ludwig von Hofmann.

1908 /

Attends the Académie Julian in Paris.

1911 /

Co-founder of the painters' group Der Moderne Bund in Weggis (Lucerne) with Walter Helbig, Oskar Lüthy, Wilhelm Gimmi and Fritz Huf.

1912 /

Visits Wassily Kandinsky in Munich; works on the almanac Der Blaue Reiter; participates in his second exhibition.

1914 /

Visits the Werkbund exhibition in Cologne, where he meets Max Ernst. Takes refuge in Paris before the outbreak of the First World War. Meets Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Pablo Picasso, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Amedeo Modigliani and others.

1915 /

Leaves France with his brother and flees to Switzerland. Stays in Ascona, where he meets Arthur Segal and Adya and Otto van Rees. Moves to Zurich. Meets Sophie Taeuber and begins working with her as artists.

1916 /

Co-founder of the Dada movement at the Cabaret-Voltaire in Zurich together with Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Marcel Janco, Richard-Huelsenbeck, Tristan Tzara.

1917 /

First Dada exhibition at the Galerie Corray in Zurich. Temporarily with Sophie Taeuber on Monte Verità in Ascona.

1919 / 20 /

Repeated visits to Cologne. Active in the Cologne Dada movement together with Max Ernst. Meets El Lissitzky and Kurt Schwitters on trips to Berlin. The volumes of poetry Die Wolkenpumpe and Der Vogel Selbdritt are published.

1922 /

Marries Sophie Taeuber in Pura (Ticino).

1924 /

Moves to Paris. There he meets Piet Mondrian.

1925 /

Participates in the Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre and in the exhibition L'Art d'aujourd'hui, both in Paris.

1926-1928 /

Collaboration with Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Theo van Doesburg on the redesign of the Aubette in Strasbourg.

1929 /

Moves to the house designed by Sophie Taeuber-Arp in Clamart (Meudon Val Fleury) near Paris.

1930 /

Start of full-round sculpture.

1931–1934 /

Member of the Abstraction-Création group.

1937 /

Member of the Alliance, association of modern Swiss artists in Zurich.

1940 /

Flees from the invasion of German troops in Paris via Nérac and Veyrier to Grasse in the south of France.

1943-1945 /

Death of Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Resides in Zurich and Basel, then returns to Clamart. -Mainly poetic production.

1946 /

Lives with Marguerite Hagenbach, partly in Clamart, partly in Basel.

1942 /

Temporary entry permit for Switzerland.

1954 /

Grand Prize at the XXVII Venice Biennale for sculpture.

1959 /

Purchases the Ronco dei Fiori estate in Locarno-Solduno and marries Marguerite Hagenbach.

1963 /

Grand Prix National des Arts.

1965 /

Together with Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach, he donates a significant part of her art collection to the city of Locarno. Appointment as honorary citizen.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

1889 /

Born on January 19 as the youngest child of the German pharmacist Emil Taeuber and the Swiss woman Taeuber-Krüsi in Davos-Platz.

1895 / 96 /

After the death of his father (1891), his mother moves to Trogen with her four children.

1904 / 05 /

Attends the Stauffacher School in St. Gallen.

1905 /

The mother and her two youngest children regain Swiss citizenship.

1905 / 06 /

Attends the Mesdames van Muyden boarding school in Vevey.

1907-1910 /

Trainee at the drawing school of the St. Gallen Museum of Industry and Trade.

1910 /

From October attends the teaching and experimental studios for applied and fine arts (Debschitz School) in Munich.

1912 / 13 /

Studies at the Hamburg School of Applied Arts, returns to the Debschitz School in Munich for the 1913 / 14 winter semester.

1914 /

Graduates from the Debschitz School and returns to Switzerland in November after the outbreak of the First World War; future place of residence is Zurich.

1915 /

From the summer, attends Rudolf von Laban's School for the Art of Movement in Zurich and on Monte Verità, Ascona; meets Hans Arp in November.

1915-1931 /

Member of the Swiss Werkbund.

1916-1929 /

Teacher of design and embroidery at the embroidery school of the arts and crafts department of the Zurich trade school.

1917 /

At the end of March, dance performance at the opening of the Dada Gallery in Zurich, various dance performances with the School for the Art of Movement.    

Marionettes and stage sets for a contemporary adaptation of the play Le roi cerf by Carlo Gozzi;

Member of the association Das Neue Leben and participated in all four exhibitions between 1918 and 1920.

1922 /

Marriage to Hans Arp and thereby acquires German citizenship.

1925 /

Jury member of the Swiss section of the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris.

1926-1928 /

Acquires French citizenship; interior design work, partly in collaboration with Hans Arp, in Strasbourg; she also works with Theo van Doesburg on the creation of the Aubette as a multifunctional entertainment complex.

1929 /

Moves to the house she designed herself in Clamart (Meudon Val Fleury) near Paris; gives up applied art, concentrates on painting and drawing.

1929-1935 /

Interior design work in Paris and Berlin.

1930-1934 /

Member of the artist groups Cercle et Carré and Abstraction-Création in Paris.

1936-1938 /

Sculptural works in wood, some in collaboration with Hans Arp.

1937 /

Becomes a member of the Allianz, an association of modern Swiss artists in Zurich.

1937 /

Sophie Taeuber Arp presents the most extensive collection of works at the Constructivist exhibition at the Kunsthalle Basel.

1937-1939 /

Publication of the international art magazine Plastique Plastic.

1940 /

Escape from the invasion of German troops in Paris via Nérac and Veyrier to Grasse in the south of France.

1942 /

Temporary entry permit for Switzerland in November.

1943 /

Accidental death in Zurich on the night of January 13-14.

max bill

1908 /

born in winterthur on december 22nd, citizen of moosseedorf (berne). father erwin bill, vice station director, mother marie geiger, sister of forest engineer and painter ernst samuel geiger.

1924-1927 /

training as a silversmith at the school of arts and crafts in zurich.

1927 / 28 /

studies at the bauhaus, college of design, dessau. teachers include paul klee, wassily kandinsky and josef albers.

1929 /

moves to zurich. works as an architect, painter, graphic artist, sculptor (from 1933), publicist (from 1936) and product designer (from 1944).

1930 /

joins the swb (swiss werkbund).

1931 /

marries the qualified concert cellist and photographer binia spoerri.

1932 /

design of the anti-fascist magazine -information, edited by ignazio silone.

1932 / 33 /

planning and construction of his house and studio in zurich-höngg.

1932-1936 /

member of the abstraction-création group, paris.

1936 /

design of the swiss contribution to the VI. triennale di milano. text contribution "konkrete gestaltung" in the exhibition catalog zeitprobleme in der schweizer malerei und plastik at the kunsthaus zürich.

1937 /

joins the alliance, association of modern swiss artists.

1938 /

joins the ciam (congrès international d'architecture moderne).

1941 /

foundation of the allianz publishing house.geburt des sohnes jakob.

1944 / 45 /

lectureship in mould theory at the school of arts and crafts in zurich.

1947 /

foundation of the i.p.c. (institute for progressive culture).

1949 /

design of the exhibition die gute form on the occasion of the swiss werkbund sample fair in basel.

1951 /

grand prize for sculpture at the bienal de arte são paulo.

grand prize of the IX triennale di milano.

1951-1956 /

co-founder and architect of the university of design, ulm; from 1952 rector and head of the architecture and product design department.

1956 /

joins the german werkbund.

1959 /

joins the bsa (swiss architects association).

1960 /

organisation of the exhibition concrete art - 50 years of development at the helmhaus zurich.

1961-1964 /

chief architect of the "education and design" sector of the swiss national exhibition expo 64 in lausanne, 1964.

1961-1968 /

member of the municipal council of zurich.

1961-1969 /

member of the federal art commission.

1967 / 68 /

construction of his house and studio in zumikon.

1967-1971 /

member of the swiss national council (federal legislative).

1967-1974 /

professor at the state university of fine arts, hamburg, chair of environmental design.

1968 /

art prize of the city of zurich.

1972 /

elected member of the academy of arts, berlin.

1985 /

chairman of the bauhaus archiv e.v., berlin.

1988 /

death of binia bill.

1991 /

marriage to the art historian angela thomas.    

1993 /

praemium imperiale, japan. chevalier de la légion d'honneur de la France.

1994 /

dr. sc. tech. h.c. of the federal institute of technology, zurich. dies on 9 december in berlin.

Connection Zurich / Paris, 1925

The first contact between Sophie Taeuber and Max Bill was at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts. From 1916, Sophie Taeuber taught the textiles class. In her lessons, she wanted to combine art, design, craftsmanship and everyday life in a creative way. She endeavoured to dissolve the boundaries between genres. The artist wanted to convey to her students a 'concept of the problems of the time' and in this context unite the decorative arts with the fine arts. Her teaching of formal expression replaced the hitherto customary design styles of applied arts textiles, such as ornamental patterns.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp left behind a rich, medially diverse, and inter-disciplinary oeuvre. She was initially a expressive dancer and craftswoman, creating tapestries such as Untitled (ca. 1925), cushions and other furnishings. After moving to Meudon, FR, in 1929, she focussed on painting and drawing, but also created spatial works. With her Compositions verticales-horizontales, she created completely non-representational compositions from 1915 onwards. These are among the first concrete / constructive works of art of modernism and were created around the same time as those of Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich. The impression is created that Taeuber-Arp found her way to new abstract forms more naturally and radically than most of her fellow artists.

The two student works by Max Bill, Tablett mit zwei Bechern und Wasserkanne (Tray with Two Cups and Water Jug) (both 1925) and the student card, refer to his time as a student at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts from 1924 to 1927. During this time, Taeuber-Arp was a member of the jury of the Swiss section of the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels in Paris and was involved in the decision to exhibit two of Bill's works in 1925. This opportunity took the 17-year-old to the French metropolis for the first time.

In 1933, back in Paris, the young architect and artist Bill joined an association to which Taeuber-Arp and her husband Hans Arp also belonged: the Abstraction-Création. It was the beginning of a productive collaboration and a lifelong friendship.

Elective Affinities

In contrast to Arp, who found his source of inspiration in nature, Bill took a clear constructive stance and sought his inspiration in mathematical thinking. In the years between 1930 and 1939, Sophie Taeuber-Arp worked on various themes that overlapped and related to each other. An interplay between constructivist and biomorphic imagery emerged in her work. These were years of intensive and inspiring exchange in Parisian artistic circles. Despite different approaches, they pursued the same goals: The defence and dissemination of non-representational art.

Arp, Taeuber-Arp and Bill exchanged ideas and inspired each other. There are numerous affinities and references to each other in their works.

In 1930, Max Bill painted Ohne Titel, Zwei Köpfe (Untitled, Two Heads) with flowing, soft lines reminiscent of the pictorial language of Hans Arp, who combined tendencies of concrete art and surrealism in his work. Despite Bill's limitation to basic mathematical principles, his work allows for multifaceted and undogmatic expression.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp was interested in the expression of form and the question of rhythm and balance. Circles, rectangles and triangles form dynamic compositions. Arrangements with irregularly placed coloured circles alternate with combinations of circle and rectangle. In works such as Sechs Räume (Six Rooms) (1932), circles, rectangles, triangles, rods and crosses are combined to create dynamic shifts in weight. In this juxtaposition with Arp and Bill, however, Taeuber-Arp's works almost seem to function as a link.

Max Bill was also a product designer and typographer. In 1932, he designed the cover of the anti-fascist magazine information, on which he juxtaposed a sculpture by Hans Arp with a socio-critical drawing by Georg Grosz. This satirical head is juxtaposed with Hans Arp's sculpture Bell and Navels (1931), which represents the artist's interest in nature as an alternative to the rationalism. In 1932, Bill again drew on Arp's biomorphic vocabulary for an advertising poster for the company Wohnbedarf.

Abstraction-Création / Paris, 1932–36

In the 1930s, Paris was the centre of Surrealism, an artistic movement that had both a disturbing and magnetic effect on the public. Surrealism was more widely accepted than non-representational art, which had more difficulties establishing its position. Groups such as Cercle et Carré, Art Concrét and Abstraction-Création, which included Sophie Taeuber and Hans Arp, were formed to promote and disseminate non-objective art. The younger Max Bill also became a member of Abstraction-Création after Hans Arp introduced him to the group in 1932.

The magazine published by the group, Abstraction-Création. Art non figuratif was preceded by the magazine Cercle et Carré, founded by Michel Seuphor in Paris in 1930, as well as the only issue of the magazine Art Concret, which was published by Theo van Doesburg in Paris in the same year. Many of the artists who had contributed to Cercle et Carré joined the Abstraction-Création association. The ideas of Art Concrét were further developed within the circle of the new group.

In the search for suitable platforms for the dissemination of non-figurative art, a substitute term was sought for ‘abstract’ art, in other words for art whose abstraction did not originate from the object. In the early 1930s, the term ‘art non figuratif’ was used in Paris, which was also the subtitle of the magazine Abstraction-Création. The Abstraction-Création group was characterised not only by the fact that different nationalities and age groups were active, but also by its diversity. The older generation explicitly offered the younger generation a platform. The artists who took part in the debate included Hans Arp, Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian as well as representatives of the new generation such as Max Bill.

Arp and Bill also expressed their views on the subject in programmatic writings. Arp published his famous text Konkrete Kunst (Concrete Art) and wrote:

“We do not want to imitate nature. We do not want to reproduce, we want to create. We want to create, like the plant creates its fruit, and not imitate. We want to form immediately and not indirectly. Since there is no trace of abstraction in this art, we call it concrete art.”

Hans Arp: «Konkrete Kunst», in: Unsern täglichen Traum, Zurich 1955, p. 79.
Translation: Kunstmuseum Appenzell.

Abstraction-Création attempted to unite all the forces of non-objective art. Parts of the group were very ‘anti-surrealist’, which led to Arp and Taeuber-Arp leaving Abstraction-Création in 1934 due to disagreements. Despite different approaches, they pursued the same goals by issuing publications and initiating important exhibitions.

The portfolio from 1970, created forty years later, contains prints by 30 representatives of Abstraction Création. The portfolio attempts to reproduce the original impression of the works, which have often become inaccessible, and thus bring to life the aesthetic intentions that the artists of those years expressed in their works.

Statement-Exhibitions

In addition to the joint portfolio works, exhibitions were another important platform for the dissemination of non-representational art, since museums play an important role in the question of what is considered art to this day. In this context, the two exhibitions on 'concrete creation', which were shown in 1935 at the Kunstmuseum Luzern under the title These, Antithese, Synthese and in 1936 at the Kunsthaus Zürich under the title Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik, were groundbreaking.

The initiative for the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Luzern, which took place from 24 February to 31 March 1935, came from the Lucerne painter Hans Erni, who, together with other artists, was associated with the Abstraction-Création group in Paris. The international exhibition included works by 22 avant-garde artists of various artistic genres, including concrete, abstract and surrealist art. Among the artists exhibited were Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Hans Arp, George Braque, Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Giorgio de Chirico, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Fernand Leger, Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian as well as Alexander Calder, Hans Erni and Alberto Giacometti. The concrete sculpture Tête et coquille (Head and Shell) (1933) by Hans Arp was also on display in the exhibition.

The exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik, which took place at the Kunsthaus Zürich from 13 June to 22 July 1936, drew attention to the avant-garde in Switzerland and built a bridge to the art centre of Paris. The connection to Paris existed primarily through the exchange of artists such as Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Max Bill, Le Corbusier and Leo Leuppi. The focus was on concrete creation, which Max Bill described in the exhibition catalogue as

“the creation that arises from its own means and principles, without having to derive or borrow them from external natural phenomena. visual creation is thus based on colour, form, light and movement.”

Max Bill: Concrete Design, in: exhib. cat. Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik, Zurich: Kunsthaus Zurich, 1936, p. 9. Translation: Kunstmuseum Appenzell.

The exhibition included Max Bill's painting variationen (1934), two compositions and two reliefs by Sophie Taeuber Arp. The work Cercles mouvementés (1934) and the dynamic composition with the arrangement of irregularly placed coloured circles Komposition mit fünf Kreisen, Quadrat und Rechteck (Composition with five circles, square and rectangle) (1931) are shown here as representatives.

Platforms of the avantgarde movements

In addition to exhibitions, books, portfolios and magazines became important platforms for artists of the 1930s and 40s. Against the backdrop of the international avant-garde and the increasing rejection of modern art by National Socialism, new collective forms of communication and interaction emerged. These networks, initiated by the artists themselves, are illustrated in this room by a selection of important documents.

Before and during the Second World War, many artists left Europe. The increasing struggle for survival and the ostracisation of modern art, which was fuelled by the National Socialist propaganda exhibition 'Entartete Kunst' of 1937, contributed to exacerbating the conditions for avant-garde art production. Nonetheless, numerous artists, including Arp, Taeuber-Arp and Bill, endeavoured to maintain the exchange of avant-garde movements across the Atlantic and against all odds. These groups of artists saw themselves as combative communities that advocated the latest artistic trends.

Following the 1936 exhibition Zeitprobleme in der Schweizer Malerei und Plastik at the Kunsthaus Zürich, Leo Leuppi founded the Allianz group – Association of Modern Swiss Artists in 1937.

The Allianz was one of the most important groups in Switzerland and brought together surrealist and constructivist-concrete artists who had returned to Switzerland due to the growing rejection of modern art in neighbouring countries. The result was an association of artists who addressed the cultural and political isolation in Switzerland during the Third Reich. Members included Max Bill, Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp or Verena Loewensberg. Allianz also positioned itself as an interest group for artists who did not belong to the official artists' association Gesellschaft Schweizerischer Maler, Bildhauer und Architekten GSMBA (Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects) and promoted its members in particular through the exhibitions Neue Kunst in der Schweiz (New Art in Switzerland) 1938 at the Kunsthalle Basel, Allianz 1942 and 1947 at the Kunsthaus Zürich and 1954 at the Helmhaus Zürich.

Collaborative publications also became important platforms. The overview publication Almanach neuer Kunst in der Schweiz (Almanac of New Art in Switzerland) from 1940, for example, enhanced the visibility of the group members. This was supplemented by the activities of the Allianz publishing house founded by Max Bill in 1941. The portfolios and artists' books published by Allianz-Verlag, such as Les derniers 9 dessins de Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1943) and Poèmes sans prénoms (1941) by Sophie Taeuber-Arp, which was distributed by Allianz-Verlag, were important means of promoting and disseminating the members' works.

Max Bill. Themes and Variations

Max Bill was an influential founder of the Concrete Art movement, not only through his multifaceted career as a sculptor, painter, industrial and graphic designer, but also as a writer, scientist and teacher. Bill initially trained as a silversmith at the School of Applied Arts in Zurich from 1924, before studying architecture at the Bauhaus in Dessau for two years from 1927. Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy and Oskar Schlemmer taught there – a formative and trend-setting time for the young Max Bill. In 1929, Bill returned to Switzerland and settled in Zurich. He started out working as an architect, but then increasingly devoted himself to painting, sculpture and product design. Inspired by the ideas of the artist Theo van Doesburg, Bill formulated the principles of Concrete Art by applying mathematics and geometry to his work.

quinze variations sur un même thème (1935–38) shows Max Bill's exploration of serial variation. The fifteen studies involve the transformation of an equilateral triangle into an equilateral octagon, which spirals outwards through further openings in the angles while maintaining the same side length. According to Bill, this is based on the realisation

‘[...] that many art lovers are not clear about how works of art are created and about their inner and outer structure’.

Exhib. cat.: Max Bill – the prints up to 1968, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, 15 December 1968 – 19 January 1969, no. 9–24. Translation: Kunstmuseum Appenzell.

Concrete Art

Following on from rooms 4 and 5, works are shown here that were on display in important exhibitions organised by the Allianz. Between 1937 and 1954, the Allianz group brought together artists from all parts of Switzerland and from all modern art movements. Hans Arp joined Allianz in 1937.

From 1917 onwards, Hans Arp's woodcuts and reliefs increasingly took on organic forms inspired by the flotsam of Lake Maggiore and found expression in biomorphic sculptures and wooden reliefs such as Zeugungsmetope / Sommermetope (1946). The work is rhythmically divided into positive and negative parts and has a space-animating and organising character. Later, he increasingly created reliefs with an architectural reference. Metope is reminiscent of Arp's early collages, which already combined the geometric with the organic. The circles are striking, as they rarely appear as a form in Arp's work and are strongly reminiscent of the works of Sophie Taeuber-Arp. In 1947, the relief was shown in the Allianz exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich.

As a painter and graphic artist, Bill worked with line, surface, colour and composition. He was interested, for example, in the division or grouping of lines, the contrast of colours as well as the form, geometry and rhythm of surfaces, or the variation of a composition – for example through rotation. The systematic organisation of his paintings and prints prevented a personal signature, which is also expressed in the rational titles of his works, such as Konstruktion mit 12-teiligem Zentrum (Construction with 12-part centre) (1941).

Hans Arp. Configurations

Hans Arp's work stands between Dada, surrealism and concrete art. He created his sculptures from the inside out as organic archetypes. His 'biomorphism' found an expression for the invisible and the spiritual in art in vegetative forms.

Max Bill described Arp's woodcuts in 11 configurations (1945) as 'form-ideas' that defy interpretation as intangible landscapes:

“the flowing lines seem to have arisen by chance, we can interpret their indeterminate-determined path as demarcations between unseen land and water that had flooded it and is now moving away from it again, whereby the viewer is far removed from the event and dispassionately surveys the process. they are images of unknown objects, unknown landscapes, unknown functions.”

Max Bill: Untitled [one day ...], in: 11 configurations, Zurich 1945, not paginated.
Translation: Kunstmuseum Appenzell.

The Allianz-Verlag publishing prospectus announced the chronicle arp: 10 configurations (room 5) with woodcuts from the years 1917 to 1942 for the beginning of 1943. The project was postponed due to the tragic death of Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Arp, who had been in close artistic collaboration with Taeuber-Arp since 1915, did not recover from this stroke of fate for a long time. It was not until 13 September 1943 that an agreement was reached between Arp and the Allianz publishing house represented by Bill, accompanied by a two-page letter from Bill. In 1945, the supplemented edition arp: 11 configurations was finally published in an edition of 200 copies. In the meantime, the number of images had increased by one configuration.

A selection from the correspon-dence between Arp and Bill provides an insight into the collaboration during the creation of 11 configurations.

Allianz-Verlag published an almanac, books, graphic works and portfolios at affordable prices. 10 Origin was published in 1942 and contains 10 sheets, woodcuts and linocuts by international and Swiss artists. The portfolio is supplemented by short programmatic texts by Arp, Bill, Kandinsky and Magnelli, which, in the midst of the war, made it clear that they perceived the concrete work of art as a counter-position to the National Socialists' understanding of art and ideal of beauty and attributed a transformative potential to it.

The portfolio contains prints by a who's who of the avant-garde: Max Bill, Hans Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Alberto Magnelli, Georges Vantongerloo, Sonja Delaunay, Leo Leuppi, Richard Paul Lohse, César Domela and Wassily Kandinsky. By looking at them, the viewer successively grasps the moment of perception sheet by sheet with the specific 'overall sound' that results from the juxtaposition of all the prints in a portfolio.

ALLIANZ-VERLAG II

In 1941, the portfolio 5 constructionen + 5 compositionen was published with ten original prints by the artists of the Allianz including Max Bill, Serge Brignoni, Hans Erni, Hans Fischli, Hans Hinterreiter, Max Huber, Leo Leuppi, Verena Loewensberg, Richard Paul Lohse and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

The portfolios were collaborative artistic and publishing productions that despite the dissolution of the group are repeatedly referred to in subsequent projects. The Allianz was able to remain an active artists' association until the mid-1950s. The last exhibition, which already had a retrospective character, took place in 1954 at the Helmhaus in Zurich. The various groups, such as the Surrealists and the Zurich Concretists, had grown apart. There was no longer any political or avant-garde commitment, as had been necessary during the war, and there were no longer any common artistic goals. The avant-garde had long since rehabilitated itself, the surrealists had lost ground and constructive and concrete art was revitalised with new impulses by a number of young artists.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp Plastique Plastic / Paris – New York – Zurich

This room is dedicated to the magazine Plastique Plastic and its environment. Together with César Domela, A. E. Gallatin and L. K. Morris, Sophie Taeuber-Arp founded the international art magazine Plastique Plastic in 1937.

Between 1935 and 1939, five issues of the magazine were published, which were significantly influenced by Sophie Taeuber-Arp. As with the artists' associations, the aim was to link artists and their supporters. The magazine also promoted the transatlantic exchange of the constructivist avant-garde at a time when many artists had already turned their backs on Europe.

The artistic networks in which Taeuber-Arp operated as an active member of the aforementioned artists' associations proved to be extremely valuable for the procurement of images and texts. The magazine connected the art scenes in New York and Paris and was also a voice tube for artists persecuted by fascism in Europe. The outbreak of the Second World War led to the magazine being cancelled. However, Sophie Taeuber-Arp planned a sixth issue and wanted to revive Plastique Plastic in Switzerland together with Max Bill. Unfortunately, the artist was unable to realise this idea as she died unexpectedly of carbon monoxide poisoning during an overnight stay at Max Bill's house in Zurich in 1943.

The designs developed by Max Bill for Number 6 are being shown here for the first time in an exhibition. The accompanying publication sheds light on the magazine design and the outlined content using previously unpublished documents and maquettes.

Some of the reliefs that Sophie Taeuber-Arp created between 1936 and 1938 are constructed on a “rectangular base with geometric forms cut out, applied or projecting into the space”, as Hans Arp wrote about Sophie Taeuber-Arp's work after her death:

“The relief we called ‚Muschelrüstung‘ [‘Shell Armour’], a relief on a rectangular, white-painted background with applied, white-painted, swinging forms, is perfect beauty. The word beauty takes on a living meaning again through such works. This relief was created at the time when Sophie Taeuber was drawing the metamorphoses of vases, leaves and shells for my poetry book 'muscheln und schirme'.”

Hans Arp, in: Zweiklang, ed. Ernst Scheidegger, Zurich: Verlag Die Arche, 1960, pp. 52–53. Translation: Kunstmuseum Appenzell.

CURATORS
Stefanie Gschwend (Direktorin Kunstmuseum / Kunstmuseum Appenzell), Simona Martinoli (Direktorin Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Locarno)

ARTISTIC-CURATORIAL EXCHANGE
Christian Meier, Christian Hörler

EXHIBITION INSTALLATION
Christian Hörler, Christian Meier, Ueli Alder, Carina Kirsch, Raoul Doré, Bea Dörig, Vanessa Heer

ORGANISATION
Regina Brülisauer, Stefanie Gschwend, Claudia Reeb

ART EDUCATION
Anna Beck-Wörner

MUSEUM ATTENDANTS
Raphaela Böhi, Dominique Franke, Margrit Gmünder, Roswitha Gobbo, Ian Groll, Margrit Küng, Jana Locher, Barbara Metzger, Cristina Mosti, Madleina Rutishauser, Melanie Scherrer 

EDITOR
TEXT Stefanie Gschwend, Claudia Reeb

WALL TEXTS Silke Balemi, Illaria Malyguine, Simona Martinoli

CREDITS
Ausstellungsansicht, Allianzen. Arp / Taeuber-Arp / Bill, Kunstmuseum Appenzell, 2024

PHOTOS
Ueli Alder

GRAFIK / GRAPHIC DESIGN
Data-Orbit / Michel Egger, St.Gallen

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Chantal und Jakob Bill, Fondazione Marguerite Arp, Galerie Haas Zürich, Museum für Gestaltung / Kunstgewerbesammlung, Plakatsammlung der Schule für Gestaltung Basel, Heinz Stamm, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste / Archiv ZHdK und Leihgeber*innen, die nicht namentlich genannt werden möchten / and lenders who wish to remain anonymous.

THE EXHIBITION WAS KINDLY SUPPORTED BY

Susanne und Martin Knechtli-Kradolfer-Stiftung
Steinegg Stiftung
Hans und Wilma Stutz Stiftung
Bertold Suhner Stiftung
Dr. Fred Styger Stiftung