Circle! Square! Progress!

The history of the Zurich Concretists and their strive to transform society through aesthetics, design, and architecture

Amidst the turmoil of World War II, Zurich was an enclave where modern art held its ground. In the aftermath, Concrete Art, design, and the Swiss Style became emblematic of a modern Switzerland. Influenced by De Stijl, Russian Constructivism, and the Bauhaus, the Zurich Concretists aimed to transform society through aesthetics, design, and architecture.

Circle! Square! Progress! brings together the main protagonists Max Bill, Camille Graeser, Verena Loewensberg, and Richard Paul Lohse along with precursors such as Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Georges Vantongerloo, Theo van Doesburg, and Anton Stankowski. Contemporary witnesses, artist Peter Fischli and curator Bice Curiger, add their unique perspectives. The volume vividly describes the Zurich Concretist's conections with European avant-garde, delving into the hostilities, scandals, and their ultimately successful struggle for recognition against the backdrop of the 20th century's upheavals.

• The first comprehensive survey of the Zurich Concretists, Switzerland's legendary Modernist art movement
• Explores the Zurich Concretists' roots in the Bauhaus and their relations to the art theories of Theo van Doesburg, Johannes Itten, and Piet Mondrian, as well as influences from mathematics and music
• Traces the struggles of the Zurich avant-garde of the 1930s and 1940s against the anti-modernism of the period
• Lavishly illustrated with key works by all artists that belonged to the movement and with rich material from archives, some of which is previously unpublished

Auteur

Thomas Haemmerli lebt und arbeitet von Zürich aus als Dokfilmer, Journalist und Autor.

Brigitte Ulmer ist Historikerin. Sie lebt und arbeitet in Zürich und London als Kulturjournalistin und Autorin.

Résumé
The Zurich Concretists: from difficult beginnings and struggles to triumphs and arrival in Switzerland's art establishment