Max Burchartz
Germany (1887—1961)
Following WWI (which forced him to interrupt his studies at the Akademie Der Künste in Düsseldorf), Burchartz got close to the Bauhaus school but soon moved away from its principles, favouring De Stijl and Constructivism. He quitted paintings and followed the Neue Gestaltung in typography and graphic design. He founded his own advertising agency in Bochum and in 1924 he opened a new one with Johannes Canis while collaborating with German manufacturer Wehag for the design of the lever handle, which became a symbol of the Modernist movement in design. He was also Professor of the Folkwangschule für Gestaltung in Essen, where he taught until 1955.
