MAX BILL (1908-1994)

Created in 1965, pyramide in form einer achtelkugel (pyramid in the shape of an eighth of a sphere) is a unique sculpture by Max Bill, the Bauhaus-educated artist, designer, architect and teacher who was one of the foremost proponents of ‘Concrete art.’ Carved in smooth granite, the work takes the form of a three-sided pyramid with a curved base. As the title indicates, it is an eighth of a sphere: if eight versions of the work were fitted together, they would make a perfect globe. The sculpture’s pleasing play of symmetry, volume and balance is typical of Bill’s practice, which was centred around mathematical and geometric foundations. Resistant to symbolism and references to the outside world, he sought instead to construct sculptures and paintings from simple elements – such as the sphere, the spiral and the Möbius strip – into satisfying intellectual wholes. In art and design alike, he conceived of beauty as central to an object’s marriage of form and function. He saw this beauty less as an imposition of the creator’s personal expression than as the integral product of a rational, objective approach. Much as an equation or scientific formula might be beautiful, pyramide in form einer achtelkugel exhibits its own self-contained splendour, touching on the fundamental relationships through which our very physical world is built.