Homage à Picasso

Five-color lithograph printed on BFK Rives paper, 1972
Toledo Museum of Art, Frederick B. and Kate L. Shoemaker Fund, 1974.21

Max Bill was an artist, designer, and architect who integrated the study of geometry and mathematics into his art. He embraced a scientific, rational approach to color and form. “I am of the opinion that it is possible to develop an art largely on the basis of mathematical thinking,” he wrote.

In Homage à Picasso, Bill started with a central square divided into four triangles of complementary color pairs (blue and orange, red and green). The square is nested within a black square, which is nested within a larger square formed by trapezoids in contrasting colors. This pattern of concentric squares seems as if it might expand further, but it is bounded by a diamond-shaped frame that limits our view.