Max Bill
Sechs Stufen Progression
Date 1942 - 1943
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 67.5 x 43.2 x 2 cm
Inventory ID UID 102-58
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The drawing composed by the white strokes in this painting can be found in the booklet x = x, published by Allianz, in Zurich, in 1942. In that publication the design, titled x=6, is in black and reversed (from left to right). For Max Bill, the design corresponded to a calculated arrangement or mathematical formula. The vertical white line is divided in two. Halfway down that line, a line emerges at a 30° angle which is half its length. Halfway along the new line, another line emerges which is half the second line’s length, also at 30°. And so on. There are thus six lines, each one being half the length of the one that precedes it, and five intersections. There is no message, it is simply a representation of pure aesthetic information. At the top and bottom there are two bars of raw wood, of 3.1 cm diameter, which constitute the work’s frame. During this period Bill experimented with many different methods of framing. AC
Angela Thomas Bill, Zumikon; Annely Juda Fine Arts, London; acquired in 1996.