Endless Surface in the Form of a Column

Gallery Text

In Zurich in the mid-1930s the Bauhaus-trained artist Max Bill became one of the principal proponents of concrete art, which holds that painting and sculpture should be constructed entirely of planes and colors and reference only the forms and materials from which they are composed. Concrete artworks are often characterized by glossy surfaces and precise, geometric shapes. Bill designed the first version of this sculpture in 1953 and produced others of varying sizes over the next decades. He adapted the notion of an endless surface from the Möbius strip. Instead of simply folding the sculptural form, he altered the concept by presenting a flat column split through the middle, twisted, and then rejoined. The twisting form and long notch create a shifting, multifaceted articulation of space while the highly polished reflective surface produces a shimmering array of optical effects as the viewer moves around it.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: BR63.25
People: Max Bill, Swiss (Winterthur, Switzerland 1908 - 1994 Berlin, Germany)
Title: Endless Surface in the Form of a Column
Other Titles: Original Language Title: Unendliche Fläche in Form einer Säule
Classification: Sculpture
Work Type: sculpture
Date: 1958
Culture: Swiss
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/223002

Location

Location: Level 1, Room 1110, Modern and Contemporary Art, Mid–century Abstraction II

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: Gold-plated bronze on wooden base
Dimensions: with base: 275 x 38 x 37.5 cm (108 1/4 x 14 15/16 x 14 3/4 in.)
without base: 238.1 x 12 cm (93 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.)
base: 37 x 38 x 37.5 cm (14 9/16 x 14 15/16 x 14 3/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line: Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of a Group of Friends of the Museum
Copyright: © Estate of Max Bill / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year: 1963
Object Number: BR63.25
Division: Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact: am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions: The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

Peter Nisbet and Emilie Norris, Busch-Reisinger Museum: History and Holdings, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1991), p. 94, ill.
Celka Straughn, Stratification: An Installation of Works since 1960, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2005), [n.p.] ill. (color)
Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007), p. 73

Exhibition History

19th- and 20th-Century Paintings and Sculpture from the Museum's Collection, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 06/11/1980 - 08/31/1980
Modern Art at Harvard, Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, 07/31/1999 - 09/26/1999; Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, 10/09/1999 - 11/14/1999; Matsuzakaya Art Museum, Nagoya, 12/02/1999 - 12/27/1999; Oita City Museum, Oita, 01/06/2000 - 02/06/2000; Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, Ibaraki, 02/11/2000 - 03/26/2000
Stratification: An Installation of Works since 1960, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 09/17/2005 - 02/26/2006
32Q: 1110 Mid-Century Abstraction II (Post-Painterly Abstraction), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

The Bauhaus

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu

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BR63.25: Endless Surface in the Form of a Column