Striving Forces of a Sphere
Artist
Max Bill
Winterthur, Switzerland, 1908 – Berlin 1994
Title
Striving Forces of a Sphere
Date
1966-1967
Materials
Granite
Dimensions
60 x 60 x 90 cm
Credits
Purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest and gifts of Maurice Corbeil, Christopher W. McConnell, Dr. Sean B. Murphy and Trevor F. Peck, inv. 1969.1635
Collection
Western Art
Max Bill went to the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1927, where he was taught by Albers. Bill applied a mathematically formal vocabulary not only to his architectural projects, but also to his painting, sculpture, typography and industrial design, which he viewed as interconnected. This sculpture is a black granite sphere dissected into quarters that are set adjacent to each other to form a symmetrical composition. Mathematical principles determine the relationship between the intersecting shapes. Despite the severe perfection of the black surface, a dynamism and rhythm animate the work. It epitomizes what Bill describes as Concrete Art: based on “inherent resources and rules. It is the expression of the human spirit, intended for the human spirit, and it should have the sharpness, the clarity and the perfection that must be expected from the human spirit.”
© Estate of Bill Max / SOCAN (2020)
