Hans Hinterreiter
Hans Hinterreiter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 January 1902 Winterthur, Switzerland |
| Died | 15 September 1989 (aged 87) Santa Eulalia del Río, Ibiza, Spain |
| Occupations | Painter, art theorist |
| Known for | Concrete art, colour theory |
Hans Hinterreiter (28 January 1902 – 15 September 1989) was a Swiss painter and art theorist associated with Concrete art. After studying architecture at ETH Zürich, he developed a systematic approach to painting based on geometric patterns and Wilhelm Ostwald's colour theory. He moved permanently to Ibiza in 1939.
Biography
[edit]Hans Hinterreiter was born on 28 January 1902 in Winterthur.[1] From 1920, he studied mathematics before switching soon afterwards to architecture at ETH Zürich. During his studies, he pursued art history and took piano and painting lessons.[1] He also drew and painted with guidance from the landscape painter Wilhelm Ludwig Lehmann.[2] From 1922 to 1924, he travelled in Italy, and in 1925 received his diploma in architecture before gaining practical experience in several architectural offices in Aarau and Bern.[1][2]
In 1929, Hinterreiter married Mina Sahn. From 1929 to 1935, he lived in Seelisberg, where he painted landscapes. He stayed in Spain from 1934 to 1936.[1] After returning to Switzerland, he came into contact with Max Bill and Zürich artists associated with Concrete art in the later 1930s.[1][2]
His wife Mina died in 1939, and in the same year Hinterreiter moved permanently to Ibiza. He acquired a farm there in 1953.[2] As a source of income, he designed holiday houses.[1] He married Hanna Marie Elisabeth Ingeborg Bartels in 1963. In 1985, the Hans Hinterreiter Foundation was established in Vaduz. Hinterreiter died on 15 September 1989 in Santa Eulalia del Río, Ibiza.[1]
Work and theory
[edit]Hinterreiter was associated with Concrete art.[3] His work centred on geometric patterns and colour theory, with music also informing his approach.[3] His paintings used mathematically planned geometric patterns and varied colour arrangements.[1]
In the early 1930s, Hinterreiter encountered the colour theory of the German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald. He adopted Ostwald's color system as a basis for his painting and developed his own approach to the systematic organisation of form, which he called the Formorgel.[2][3] After 1930, his compositions often began with a line placed within a regular grid, which he then varied through rotation, reflection and repetition.[2] His system has also been discussed from a mathematical perspective, particularly for its use of symbolic notation, grids and non-linear geometric deformations in creating his compositions.[4]
Hinterreiter described some of his works as Farbgedichte, or colour poems, and related them to musical composition.[2] He also set out his ideas in theoretical publications, including Geometrische Schönheit in 1958, A Theory of Form and Color in 1967 and Die Kunst der reinen Form in 1978.[2][3]
Exhibitions
[edit]Hinterreiter exhibited with the Swiss artists’ group Allianz in Zürich in 1942 and 1947.[1][2] A 1973 exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur marked a stage in his later recognition.[2] In 2018, the Fundación Juan March organised an exhibition of his work in collaboration with the Hans Hinterreiter Foundation, presenting around 75 works together with documents and publications related to his long-term study of colour and form.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bhattacharya, Tapan (18 December 2007). "Hans Hinterreiter". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 12 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Albrecht, Hans Joachim (2016). "Hans Hinterreiter". SIKART Lexikon zur Kunst in der Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 12 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Hans Hinterreiter (1902-1989)". Fundación Juan March. 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2026.
- ↑ George W. Hart, Hans Hinterreiter's Flowing Fields, Proceedings of Bridges 2024
Further reading
[edit]- Hans Joachim Albrecht and Rudolf Koella, with Istvan Schlegl (editor), Hans Hinterreiter: A Swiss Exponent of Constructive Art, Waser Verlag, 1982.
- Jakob Bill et al., Hans Hinterreiter 1902–1989, Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, 2018.