The Kunsthaus Zürich Presents Franz Gertsch ~ Hyper-realistic Paintings

Written by Karl Zimmerman Tuesday, 14 June 2011 22:44

Zurich.- The Kunsthaus Zürich is pleased to present "Franz Gertsch. Seasons. Works 1983 to 2011". The exhibition is currently on view and runs through to September 18th. The Kunsthaus Zürich exhibition is a major retrospective featuring round 30 large-format paintings and woodcuts by Franz Gertsch – one of Switzerland’s leading contemporary artists. The exhibition brings together in the large exhibition gallery his realistic works from the period between 1983 and 2011, culminating in his recently completed ‘Four Seasons Cycle’.

Franz Gertsch is one of the most important Swiss artists of the present day. He rose to international fame in the 1970s with his hyper-realist paintings, and works from this period have fetched top prices at recent auctions. Yet his outstanding reputation stems equally from his woodcuts, unique both technically and in format. Gertsch relishes the challenge that his compositions require, both visual and conceptual. Although he works from photographs, his pictures follow their own internal logic in their quest for absolute harmony of all elements. His watchword is purity of material: from the paints themselves, often comprised of minerals such as lapis lazuli, azurite and malachite, to bonding agents, canvas and handmade Japanese paper, all is carefully selected with an eye to the project in question. For their part, Gertsch’s woodcuts may fairly be called one of a kind. With heretofore unknown precision of execution – in both engraving and printing – and in monumental formats that push the edge of the envelope (literally) when it comes to papermaking, Gertsch has lent a traditional medium new dimensions.

Born in 1930 at Möringen in the canton of Bern, Franz Gertsch achieved his international breakthrough at ‘documenta 5’ in Kassel in 1972. Since then he has produced a rich variety of paintings and graphic works and has shown at the Venice Biennales in 1999 and 2003. The last 15 years have seen exhibitions in Berlin, Munich, Paris, Vienna, Nagoya and New York. Gertsch has also received the coveted ‘Kaiserring’ Award for Modern Art from the city of Goslar, and was granted an Honorary Citizenship by the Christian Albrecht University in Kiel in 2005.

Founded in 1787, the Künstlergesellschaft began to collect works of art in 1794 and in 1812, obtained the first presmises. In 1847 the rotating exhibition organized by the Swiss Kunstverein provided the impetus to annex a tiny gallery, designed by Gustav Albert Wegmann, the architect responsible for the Villa Tobler and the Kantonsschule, to the original premises. For a long time the new ‘museum’ was dominated by the collection donated by Colonel Keller zum Mohrenkopf in 1854, a representative selection of Zurich painting from Hans Asper to the 18th century. It was not until 1910 that the ‘Kunsthaus’ was opened on a plot of land donated by city councillor Landolt – neither ‘museum’ nor ‘art gallery’, as the architect Karl Moser pointed out, but both. The name ‘Kunsthaus’ (house of art ) consciously reflects its democratic aspirations and wish to bring art to a broad public. When the Kunsthaus held a large Ferdinand Hodler exhibition in 1917, it became clear that the financial resources of the ‘Kunstgesellschaft’ were insufficient, and Alfred Rüetschi responded by founding the ‘Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde’ (Society of Zurich Friends of Art), which even today regularly helps to extend the Kunsthaus collection with significant acquisitions.


In 1920 the Kunsthaus received as a legacy the collection of Hans Schuler and with it for the first time works of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism including, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Vincent Van Gogh and Pierre Bonnard. After many years of preparation the Kunsthaus organised its first exhibition with Edvard Munch in 1922 and began to build up the largest collection of works by the Norwegian artist outside of Scandanavia. The Kusnthaus was extended throughout the twentieth century and by 1957 the collection had increased to over 450 works. From 1998 to 2000 the Villa Tobler was restored in a manner befitting its status as a new renaissance palazzo to become the new home of management and to serve as a venue for representational purposes. On the 28 May 2002 the departing President of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, Thomas W. Bechtler, Director Christoph Becker and the Chairman of the City Council, Elmar Ledergerber, presented plans for a further extension of the building at Heimplatz. The extension building is scheduled to be realized by 2015. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.kunsthaus.ch

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