Hans Georg Hillmann

Biography

Publicity, posters, book design, illustration. Born 25 October 1925 in Niedermois (or Nieder-Mois), Silesia (now Poland). 1943?-5?: military service. 1948-9: studied at Kassel Schule für Handwerk und Kunst. 1949-54: studied graphic design at Kassel Werkakademie. 1955-6: freelance in Kassel. 1956: moved to Frankfurt a.M. where he freelanced. By 1956: designed film posters for the Göttingen film distribution agency Neue Filmkunst Walter Kirchner. By 1959: member of design group Novum-Gesellschaft (with Karl-Oskar Blase, Helmut Lortz and others). 1960: member of the AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale). From 1960: taught graphic art at Kassel Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste. Hillman’s film posters were displayed at Photokina, Cologne, in 1958, and at the Milan Triennale in 1960. His work won awards at Bamberg, 1958, Munich, 1959, Bremen, 1960, Paris, 1961, Warsaw, 1966. From 1968: advisory board member of the German Bundespost. By 1970: illustrating ‘picture stories’, such as I dreamt I was a dreaming dog (Kohlkunstverlag Rambow und Lienemeyer). These and his film posters are memorable.

Writings by

    ‘The Kassell School’ (with Jan Lenica, Gunter Rambow), Graphis 232, July/Aug. 1984, pp. 54-67.
  • Walter Amstutz (ed.), Who’s Who in Graphic Art, Zurich: Amstutz & Herdeg Graphis Press, 1962. , 1962

Writings about

    Franz Hermann Wills, ‘Hans Hillmann’, Graphis 84, 1959, pp. 344-9, 369-70
  • Graphik, 1960
    • Erich Wenzel, ‘German Post Office advertising’, Graphis 99, 1962, pp. 58-63, 88, 91
  • Armin Eichholz, ‘A clarion among German magazines’ (twen), in Gg, Sept. 1963, pp. 30-41
    • Maria Netter, ‘Exemplary film publicity in Germany’, Graphis 113, 1964, pp. 236-49, 259
  • Henri Hillebrand (ed.), Graphic Designers in Europe 2, London: Thames and Hudson, 1972, pp. 64-91
  • Eberhard Hölscher, ‘New film advertising’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Dec. 1957, pp. 18-25
  • E. Hölscher, ‘The best German posters of 1957’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1958, pp. 36-43
  • E. Hölscher, ‘The best German posters of 1958’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1959, pp. 2-9
  • E. Hölscher, ‘German posters 1959/60’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1960, pp. 10-19
  • E. Hölscher, ‘German posters 1961/2’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1962, pp. 10-23
  • E. Hölscher, ‘The best German posters of 1962/3’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1963, pp. 2-13
  • Hellmut Rademacher, Das deutsche Plakat. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart, Dresden: VEB Verlag der Kunst, 1965., 1965, pp. 282, 284, 288
    • Hans Kuh, ‘Hans Hillmann – picture stories’, Graphis 175, 1975, pp. 436-9 H. Kuh, ‘Hans Hillmann’, Graphis 180, 1976, pp. 362-71 ‘The Kassel School’, Graphis 232, 1984, pp. 54-67
  • Kurt Weidemann, ‘posternovum’ (posters by Hillman, Günther Kieser, Anton Stankowski), novum, Jan. 1980, pp. 44-9
  • Friedrich Friedl, Nicolaus Ott, Bernard Stein, Typography – when/who/how, Cologne: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 1998., 1998.
  • Ludwig Ebenhöh, ‘One swallow does not make [a] summer’ (film posters for Neue Filmkunst), Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., July 1956, pp. 12-17
  • note on Neue Filmkunst, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Jan. 1957, p. 60
  • Carl Heussner, ‘Through the year with the mails’ (Federal Postal Services calendar), Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., April 1958, pp. 2-7
  • E. Hölscher, ‘A new dawn for the film poster’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., April 1959, p. 47
  • Werner Schwier, ‘A Novum in commercial graphic art’ (design group: Novum-Gesellschaft für neue Grafik mbH), Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Oct. 1959, pp. 10-19
  • Hans Kuh, ‘Film prospectuses’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., May 1963, pp. 16-29
  • E. Hölscher, ‘The best German posters of 1963/4’, Gebrauchsgraphik (International Advertising Art), Berlin: Phönix Illustrationsdruck und Verlag GmbH (later: ‘Gebrauchsgraphik’ Druck und Verlag GmbH), 1933-71. Published from Munich from 1950., Aug. 1964, pp. 2-17

Exhibitions

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M., 2005.

Collections

  • Landesmuseum, Kassel
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
  • Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.