Digital collage by Atelier Pol based on the painting "Bromelia (Guadeloupe)" (2012) by Franz Gertsch
Kaleidoscope
Twenty Years of the Museum Franz Gertsch
17.09.2022 – 05.03.2023
The Museum Franz Gertsch is celebrating its twentieth anniversary! True to its title, the multifaceted and multicoloured celebratory exhibition “Kaleidoskop (Kaleidoscope)” not only comprises paintings and woodcuts Franz Gertsch produced over the past twenty years, but also new works which will be on display for the first time. The selection also includes loans from other museums which have not been shown in Burgdorf for some time.
In this context, kaleidoscope stands for a varied sequence of motifs and colours as well as the sensations triggered by these works. Visitors to the exhibition will be treated to a kaleidoscopic experience of Franz Gertsch’s art. This motto extends to the programme of the anniversary celebration on Saturday 17 September 2022 with its array of art-educational, musical, and culinary highlights.
Over the course of several decades, Franz Gertsch has created an extensive oeuvre in which certain motifs resurface in variations. The same motif might appear in paintings and woodcuts, or in the same technique but in a different colour. For the first time in many years, three “Silvia” paintings will be reunited: while “Silvia I” (1998) belongs to the Museum Franz Gertsch and plays a central role in the history of its founding, “Silvia II” is part of the collection of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve (D), and “Silvia III” is owned by the Kunsthaus Zürich. Another room features woodcuts from the so-called “Silvia Rainbow Series” (2001/02) from the artist’s collection. Likewise, paintings and woodcuts from the group of works “Guadeloupe” will be on display in the museum for the first time in years – since 2014 the paintings had been on permanent loan to the Folkwang Museum in Essen (D). The motifs grasses, butterbur, and wood paths as well as depictions of the seasons vary widely in the artist’s paintings and woodcuts – the spectrum ranges from representations in local colours to monochromes to landscapes dipped in genuine ultramarine he produced in later years. One room is dedicated to the theme “Sea”: Drawing on photographs he took in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the 1970s, Franz Gertsch created further paintings and woodcuts on this subject from 2013 onwards. The woodcut “Meer (Sea)” (2020/21) and the painting “Meer II (Sea II)” (2021/22) will be on display in the museum for the first time.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Wesle in collaboration with the artist.
In this context, kaleidoscope stands for a varied sequence of motifs and colours as well as the sensations triggered by these works. Visitors to the exhibition will be treated to a kaleidoscopic experience of Franz Gertsch’s art. This motto extends to the programme of the anniversary celebration on Saturday 17 September 2022 with its array of art-educational, musical, and culinary highlights.
Over the course of several decades, Franz Gertsch has created an extensive oeuvre in which certain motifs resurface in variations. The same motif might appear in paintings and woodcuts, or in the same technique but in a different colour. For the first time in many years, three “Silvia” paintings will be reunited: while “Silvia I” (1998) belongs to the Museum Franz Gertsch and plays a central role in the history of its founding, “Silvia II” is part of the collection of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve (D), and “Silvia III” is owned by the Kunsthaus Zürich. Another room features woodcuts from the so-called “Silvia Rainbow Series” (2001/02) from the artist’s collection. Likewise, paintings and woodcuts from the group of works “Guadeloupe” will be on display in the museum for the first time in years – since 2014 the paintings had been on permanent loan to the Folkwang Museum in Essen (D). The motifs grasses, butterbur, and wood paths as well as depictions of the seasons vary widely in the artist’s paintings and woodcuts – the spectrum ranges from representations in local colours to monochromes to landscapes dipped in genuine ultramarine he produced in later years. One room is dedicated to the theme “Sea”: Drawing on photographs he took in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the 1970s, Franz Gertsch created further paintings and woodcuts on this subject from 2013 onwards. The woodcut “Meer (Sea)” (2020/21) and the painting “Meer II (Sea II)” (2021/22) will be on display in the museum for the first time.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Wesle in collaboration with the artist.
Werke / Works
