Page 54 - Studio International - April 1973

potential of these new formal languages. himself a teacher. Since 1919 he had given 'Herbert Spencer, Pioneers of modern typography,
Discussions like those which raged after Piet evening courses at the Rotterdam Academy of New York (Hastings House) 197o.
Quotation from a previously unpublished letter.
Zwart's speech on industrial design for the Art, and through the years he had developed 'For further examples (many wrongly dated) see :
assembled membership of the Dutch Arts and his own ideas about art education, with the Fridolin Muller (ed.), Piet Zwart, London (Alec
Crafts Society (VANK) in 1929, reveal their Bauhaus as a shining example. (Invited by Tiranti) 1968.
'From a TV interview, 1970.
fear of what they saw as 'inhuman', 'cold', Hannes Meyer, he taught in Dessau for a week 4E1 Lissitzky, Topographie der Typographie, in:
industrial design." in the winter of 1929-30.) He added courses in Merz 4, 1923.
Two more elements in Piet Zwart's work basic design to the part of the curriculum for 'Piet Zwart, Van oude tot nieuwe typografie, in: Trio
Reclameboek, The Hague (Trio) 1931.
between 1925 and 1930 remain to be described which he was responsible, and in 1929 proposed 6Piet Zwart, Gereinigde fotografie, in: Foto '48,
in this context. In the first place, from 1926 to a completely new framework for art education in Catalogue Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1948.
193o he regularly contributed reviews on the Netherlands. This plan did away with 'See note 5.
8From an unpublished manifesto by Zwart,
architecture and related subjects to the obsolete teaching methods for redundant jobs, Schuitema and Kiljan.
influential daily paper Het Vaderland. He and introduced new fields of activity : 'See note 3.
discussed books on modern architecture and architecture as part of city planning; film and "From an unpublished letter, October I I, 1926.
"Piet Zwart, Kunstnijverheid en techniek, in:
analysed recently completed buildings arid photography; commercial art and industrial Jubileumorgaan van de VANK, Amsterdam 1929.
projects related to city planning. He design. About his colleagues he wrote: 'Special "Piet Zwart: Het onderwijs aan de academies voor
recommended books by Oud, Giedion, and Taut attention should be paid to the re-education of beeldende kunsten, in: Het Vaderland, September 8,
1928.
and sharply criticized traditional construction the teachers, to the extent that they cannot be
techniques, irrational city planning, and the replaced.'12 Within a few years, inevitably, he
failures of art education. was fired for inciting his pupils to rebellion and
And in the second place, Piet Zwart was infecting them with Communist ideas. q

(Above left)
Brochure for air-mail, title page 1929/3o
(Above right)
Brochure for air-mail, page 2 1929/3o
(Left)
Side of a frozen ditch, photograph 193o
Coll. Haags Gemeentemuseum
(Below)
Piet Zwart's trade mark

180