Andreas Christen (*1936): Untitled

Artist
Andreas Christen (1936–2006)
 
Title
Untitled
 
Medium
Silkscreen print on paper
 
Dimensions
28 x 28 cm
 
Editor
Edition Panderma, Basel
 
Year
1977
 
Signature
Hand signed in pencil
 
Provenance
Edition Panderma, Carl Laszlo, Basel
Galerie von Bartha, Basel
Private Collection, Basel
 
Condition
Mint archival condition
 
Biography
 
Andreas Christen (1936, Bubendorf – 2006, Zürich) is one of the most important Swiss representatives of Concrete and Constructive art and, in parallel, a pioneering figure of Swiss product design. From 1956 to 1959 he was the sole student of the experimental class for product design at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich, taught by the former Bauhaus master Hans Fischli. He then established his own studio and worked simultaneously as an artist and designer.
 
In 1960 Christen created his first "Monoforms"—monochrome white reliefs cast in polyester—which brought him to wider attention and led Max Bill to include his work in the landmark exhibition "Konkrete Kunst: 50 Jahre Entwicklung" at the Helmhaus Zürich. In 1967 he represented Switzerland at the 9th São Paulo Biennale. As a designer he is celebrated for icons of Swiss modernism, including the Lehni aluminium shelving system (1964) and the B74 letterbox, which became a national standard.
 
His work has been honoured with retrospectives and exhibitions at institutions including the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, the Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zürich, and Massimo De Carlo in London, and he received the Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer Prize (1968) and the Camille-Graeser Prize (1992). From 1981 he worked closely with the Annemarie Verna Galerie in Zürich. A rigorous practitioner of reduction and geometric clarity throughout his career, Christen's wall reliefs and constructive works are held in major Swiss and international collections.