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book (design) story #151

max bill, jean arp:
konkrete kunst

kunsthalle basel, 1944
printer: kunstanstalt trüb & cie., aarau
size: 21 x 15 cm
designer: max bill

in the 1940s, max bill was very busy promoting the "concrete art" movement. the kunsthalle basel was one of the few exhibition spaces where the swiss avant-garde was welcome in those early years (see also book story 149). bill designed the cataloge and poster for this 1944 "konkrete kunst" show, and contributed a manifesto-like text.

the typography is again all-lowercase, with spaces before full stops (like in book 149).

the main artists in the exhibition are listed on the front cover – arp, bill, bodmer, kandinsky, klee, leuppi, lohse, mondrian, taeuber-arp, vantongerloo. again, the allianz verlag portfolios and publications were offered for sale on the last page (below).

and again, a modernist "eidenbenz" ad in the ad section.

unusual: an index of featured artists is printed on the rear cover.