SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The American painter, sculptor and draughtsman Burgoyne A. Diller (1906–1965) moved from figurative works to an abstraction structured by orthogonal geometric forms. Early in his career, he painted murals for the Federal Art Project of the City of New York; many of his best-known works are later characterised by orthogonal compositions. The biographical entry links this vocabulary to Diller’s interest in De Stijl and Piet Mondrian, and reports that he was also inspired by Kasimir Malevitch and Theo van Doesburg. Hans Hofmann and Jan Matulka, his teachers at the Art Students League of New York, are also among the artists credited in the entry with influencing his work.
After attending Battle Creek High School, he graduated from Michigan State University in 1927. He began his studies at the Art Students League in 1929 and left in 1933. An untitled sheet dated 1947, executed in colour and pencil on paper, bears the inscription “S-47” at the lower right; on the reverse are a monogram and the inscription “87-32”.
From 1943, Diller served in the US Navy at the Training Devices Development Center. There he developed a portable Morse code training device, patented in 1945, and was then discharged in November of the same year with the rank of lieutenant (junior grade). For a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, he asked Hans Hofmann to write the catalogue introduction. After Diller’s death, the exhibition “Burgoyne Diller, an American constructivist: paintings, sculptures, drawings” was presented at the Walker Art Center, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and the Pasadena Art Museum, from December 1971 to July 1972.
This profile brings together identity references for Burgoyne Diller and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Schuler · Sotheby’s · Germann
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Burgoyne Diller 1906 - 1965 Third Theme Colour pencil and pencil on tracing paper hinged on cardboard Inscribed R87 - 40 upper left 23.5 x 23 cm (unframed); 40.4 x 43.4 cm (framed) Executed circa 1945
Catalogue period : 2021-06-08 — 2021-06-15
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : 4000 – 6000 CHF
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Pencil on paper
Ohne Titel
Bleistift auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2016-12-16
Published result : 1800 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1800–2500
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Coloured pencil and pencil on paper.
Third Theme, 1952
Farbstift und Bleistift auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Coloured pencil and pencil on paper.
40-81 Third Theme, 1948-50
Farbstift und Bleistift auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Pencil and coloured pencil on paper.
Third Theme, um 1950
Bleistift und Farbstift auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Buntstift und Bleistift auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Buntstift und Bleistift auf Papier.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
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