MAX BILL (1908-1994) TANZSTUDIO WULFF BASEL. 1931. 25x35 1/2 inches, 63 1/2x90 cm. Berichthaus, Zurich. Condition A-: creasing in image; minor tears and abrasions at edges. Japan. Max Bill began his artistic career taking silversmith courses in his native Switzerland. From 1927 to 1929 he studied design at the Bauhaus, in Dessau. His professors included such luminaries as Josef Albers, Vassily Kandinsky, Walter Gropius and Paul Klee. Returning to Zurich in 1929, he began his life's work, becoming one of the pioneers of the international typographic style and a key figure of Modernism in Europe in the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture and graphic design. He became a champion of purist aesthetics and strict visual discipline. This poster for a ballet performance is a clever typographic composition that is more dada-related than Bill's usual, almost constructivist approach to lettering. It foreshadows his abstract work with primary colors. One of several variations. Muller-Brockmann p. 214, Avant Garde p. 167 (var), Weill p. 249 (var), Theaterplakate p 138 (var).
