Paul Talman

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Paul Talman (actually Paul Thalmann; born January 14, 1932 in Zurich ; † December 21, 1987 in Ueberstorf ) was a Swiss painter , sculptor , object artist and designer . He is an important representative of Swiss concrete and kinetic art and abstract geometric constructivism .

life and work

Paul Talman trained as a lithographer in Bern . During this time he made a close friendship with the artist Dieter Roth and with other artists from the Bernese scene, such as Bernhard Luginbühl .

His early work is still dedicated to traditional painting and drawing. But at a young age he began to paint abstractly . His first abstract paintings were created in 1949. From the mid-1950s, Paul Talman began to develop a new type of connection between his images and movement, creating a new relationship between geometric shapes and colors based on constructivism.

From 1955 his serial pictures were created as engravings in acrylic glass . In 1956 he moved to Basel . From this point in time he created his completely new «hole and funnel pictures». From 1960 he created his famous “role pictures” and “ball pictures” as kinetic objects that brought him worldwide attention. In 1964 he went to the United States and spent time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . In the USA he designed furniture for KNOLL International, New York. He also patented several product designs in the USA, such as a laundry scoop, a foldable beer can holder and party ashtray. After this time he created, among other things, three-dimensional ornamental pictures in Plexiglas and designed sandwich pictures.

He had an important solo exhibition and his breakthrough in 1961 in the exhibition “Bewogen Bewegungsing” at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam . In 1962 he became a member of the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel (GRAV), Paris . In 1965 another important exhibition was added at the Byron Gallery in New York City . This was followed by an invitation in 1968 to the 4th documenta in Kassel with four of his kinetic “spherical images”.

From 1959 to 1972, in addition to his artistic work, he also worked as an art director for an advertising agency in Basel. In 1973 he moved with his family to the former Ueberstorf Castle . Here he cultivated his acquaintances with many well-known artists, such as Daniel Spoerri , Jean Tinguely or Dieter Roth.

Paul Talman also worked as a sculptor and product designer, among other things, he designed furniture and clocks, designed well-known corporate designs such as ILFORD and Sinar on behalf of the advertising agency in Basel and made films (for example the film "Spheric Art" with the music by Rolf Liebermann and George Gruntz ).

Literature and Sources

  • 4. documenta. International exhibition . Catalog: Volume 1: (painting and sculpture), Volume 2: (graphics / objects), Kassel 1968.
  • Harald Kimpel and Karin Stengel: documenta IV 1968 International Exhibition - A photographic reconstruction . (Series of publications of the documenta archive); Bremen 2007, ISBN 978-3-86108-524-9 .
  • Paul Talman, The Garden Party . Writings of the Foundation for Constructive and Concrete Art, Zurich 1997.
  • Literature by and about Paul Talman in the catalog of the German National Library

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Talman, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thalmann, Paul (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter, sculptor, object artist and designer
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1987
Place of death Ueberstorf