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JEAN BAIER (Swiss, b. 1932 – d. 1999)

Color-Field Painter, Muralist , Printmaker

Jean Baier was born on February 24th ,1932 in Geneva, Switzerland. A mainly self-taught artist, Baier had already began to paint when he was 15 years old; early on he was fascinated by the forms of factories and industrial machinery, and finding the brush and palette knife inadequate to fulfill his artistic vision, Baier completed a machinists apprenticeship (further pursuing his interest in things industrial) and it was during this apprenticeship in his late teens where he first came in contact with a paint spray gun and like many artists who finally find their instrument for making art found it to be an epiphany  for making his vision of a "Rolls Royce" in painting come to life.

In 1955, Baier devoted all his time to painting and developed a style which he relentlessly pursued and intensified, using the spray gun as his instrument to apply cellulose, and polymerized enamel paint on tin, aluminum, canvas, or synthetic materials. As a representative of non-objective/color-field painting, Baier pursued his own path independently and consistently, creating abstract compositions more closely related to architecture and modern industrial design than to the occurring trends in art in the 1950’s 60’s and 70’s. Baier’s work has clarity of its strict form (apart from its architecture Baier’s work has no curves) this is due to his understanding that a straight line is the tension point that is achieved when a curve is brought to its maximum. This concentrated power in a limited space is a striking and constantly recurring feature of his works, as is the use of very few colors, typically red and blue often brightened with white or gray slashes in combination with black. Black being the predominant but never a void or background ; it’s always balanced with the other color values to achieve a perfectly harmonious two-dimensional composition. Baier’s paintings are absolutely flat: no relief or perspective is allowed to distract from his major objective, research in the inter-relation of forms, these self-imposed limitations account for the originality and power of his work, but his rigorously precise compositions are not harsh or mathematically cold, there is more an interplay of forms and angles of the subtly changing color values which give a remarkable feeling of an independent yet confined space with the flat surfaces seeming to vibrate with carefully controlled tension. By these very limitations Baier has attained a mastery of color, form, and technical perfection which places him among the masters of 20th Century European Art.

As well as a painter, watercolorist, and printmaker Baier was also known for his large scale murals made of ceramic and metal creating a number of works for corporate offices, and such venues as The University of St. Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland, The City of Geneva at the Ports Francs, Switzerland, and The Swiss National Pavilion at The Sao-Paulo Biennale among may others.

Baier also won numerous awards and prizes for his work including The Federal Swiss Art Prize for Painting (1958,60,& 62); The Kiefer-Hablitzel Art Prize (1961); The Federal Swiss Art Purchase Award (1961); and The Prix Lelio Fiaux (1969),

Starting in the mid 1950’s Baier’s widely acclaimed art has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia including : The Rath Museum, Geneva, Switzerland (1957); The Kongresshalle, Berlin, Germany (1958); The 5th Sao-Paulo Biennale, Brazil (1959); The Leverkusen Museum of Art, Germany(1960); The 6th Sao-Paulo Biennale, Brazil (1961); The 2nd Paris Biennale at The Musee d‘Art Moderne, Paris, France (1961,70); Galerie Maurice Bridel, Lucerne, Switzerland(1961,65); The 1962 Saigon Biennale, Saigon, Viet-Nam; Galerie Palette, Zurich, Switzerland (1962,64,66,68,70,72,74); Wulfengasse Gallery, Austria (1962); Galerie Belvedere, Switzerland (1962); ABC Gallery, Winterthur, Switzerland(1962); Galerie Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland (1964, 65, 66); The”Swiss Art of The 20th Century” Exhibition at The Palace de Rumine, Lucerne, Switzerland (1964); The Museum of 20th Century Art, Vienna, Austria; The 1965 Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo, Japan; Riehentor Gallery, Basel, Switzerland (1966,70,71); The 1966 Krakow Biennale, Krakow, Poland; Galerie Aktuell, Bern, Switzerland (1967); Galerie Krugier & Cie, Geneva, Switzerland (1967);The Schaffhausen Museum, Zurich, Switzerland (1968); The Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France (1968); Galerie Historial, Nyon, Switzerland (1969); La Galerie 57, Bienne, Switzerland (1969); Galerie Krebs, Bern, Switzerland (1970); The 1970 Seoul Biennale, Seoul, South Korea; The New York Cultural Centre, New York, USA (1971); The Biennale of Contemporary Art, Bolzano, Italy (1971); Galerie Grand-Rue, Geneva, Switzerland (1971); The Musee de l’Athenee, Geneva, Switzerland (1973).

Baier’s work can be found in museum collections throughout the world including; The Sztuki Museum, Lodz, Poland ; the Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland ; The Swiss National Art Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; The Neuchatel Museum, Newchatel, Switzerland; The Museum of Art, St.Gallen, Switzerland; The Winterthur Museum of Art, Winterthur, Switzerland; The Zurich Museum of Art, Zurich, Switzerland; The Museum of 20th Century Art, Vienna, Austria; The Kunstmuseum, Lucerne, Switzerland; The Musee des Beaux-Arts, Geneva, Switzerland; and The Warsaw Museum of Art, Warsaw, Poland.