wiedler.ch

book (design) story #207

arnold rüdlinger:
kandinsky

kunsthalle bern, 1955
printer: stämpfli & cie., bern
size: 21 x 15 cm
designer: dieter roth

this catalogue for a wassily kandinsky (1866-1944) exhibition in the kunsthalle bern was designed by dieter roth (1930-1998), a german-born artist and poet who had been trained as a graphic designer in bern. together with marcel wyss (see story 85) roth co-founded the artists' magazine "spirale".

the light grey wrappers sport kandinsky's painting "trente" (1937) which is based on a grid of 30 chessboard-like fields. actually the painting appears mirrored, and roth cropped its left and right margins to fit the layout grid.

although the impressum credits dieter roth for the cover design only, the typography is very much in the style of "spirale", too: semi-bold sans-serif in a single size with plenty of leading and minimal margins.

this copy came with two original tickets for the exhibition laid in.