Snap-shot

Franz Gertsch (born 1930) is one of Switzerland’s preeminent contemporary artists. After Romantic painterly beginnings, Franz Gertsch arrived after 1965 by way of collages in the Pop Art style at his large –format photorealistic paintings and woodcuts, for which he is internationally known.

Last fall, we presented the artist’s early paintings and prints. The present exhibition is concerned with the mature artist from the early 1980s. Alongside such favorites as “Johanna I” (1983/84) and “Silvia I” (1998), “Gräser I” [Grasses I] (1995/96) will also be on display. A selection of the artist’s large -scale woodcut landscapes accompany and supplement the paintings. The spectrum of this survey of the artist’s oeuvre from the past thirty years will naturally be crowned by the “Four Seasons” cycle painted between 2007 and 2011, which can be regarded as the masterpiece of Franz Gertsch’s late work.

Untiring in his creative urge, Franz Gertsch turned to a new cyclical work after completing “Spring.” The Museum Franz Gertsch is proud to be able to present his new painting for the first time: “Maria (Guadeloupe)” (2011/12) is the middle painting of a three-part work dealing with the cycle of life under the motto “Becoming – Being – Decaying.” “Maria,” a monumental nude portrait based on a photograph taken on Guadeloupe, represents in this context with its over life-sized sensuousness “Being.” The two flanking paintings will likewise have their premieres in the Museum Franz Gertsch after they have been completed.