Albert Lindegger

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Mural seminar Marzili Bern

Albert Lindegger (born September 14, 1904 in Bern , † October 14, 1991 in Bellinzona , legal resident in Geuensee LU) - better known by his nickname "Lindi" - was a Swiss painter , draftsman and illustrator .

Life

Albert Lindegger grew up in Bern and attended schools there up to high school. His classmates gave him the nickname Lindi , which later became his pseudonym and finally his family name. His talent for drawing showed at an early age, and he painted his first landscapes and portraits while still at school. He completed his training years at the trade school in Bern with Theodor Volmar and Phillip Ritter . The decision to become a painter was consolidated after the first publications of caricatures and in 1925 after participating in the Christmas exhibition in the Kunsthalle Bern. In 1926 he moved to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian with André Lhote and Roger Bissière . In Paris he made friends with Kurt Seligmann , Varlin and Alberto Giacometti . In 1927 Lindegger was already represented in the Salon d'automne , and he began to sign his work with Lindi . During this time in France he met the artists Tonio Ciolina , Max von Mühlenen and Hans Seiler , with whom he became friends. In 1931, with these artists, he founded the avant-garde Swiss artist group “The Step on”. His political and social caricatures were included in French and Swiss magazines. Caricatures were an important part of his work until the end of his life. Extensive travels through Europe, North Africa and the Balkans in the 1930s ended abruptly with the outbreak of World War II . Back in Bern, Lindi was accredited as an aggressive critic of nationalism and fascism, as a draftsman of world news, at international conferences and at the Olympic Games. Hotel rooms and foyers were his studios.

As a draftsman, he worked for the Gutenberg Book Guild from 1942 onwards to illustrate books from world literature. Lindi temporarily lived in a property owned by Madame de Meuron, who is well known in the city, near Bern Minster. In the little book “Madame de…” by Susy Langhans-Maync, which found the grace of the aristocrat thanks to its illustrations, her respect for the artist's ability to “hinder d'Façade z'luege” (to look behind the facade) is described.

In addition to drawings and prints, he created an immense body of painted pictures. Around 1962 Lindi had orders for the artistic design of public buildings and even ships on Lake Thun. Its sgraffitis on the outer walls have recently been given special attention and protection during the thermal renovation of the buildings. Lindi was also active as a film author and in the 1950s as a creator of sculptures and ceramics. Later he expanded his creative field with glass and jewelry.

In 1960 Lindi married Marianne Murkowsky, and from 1965 the family lived with their sons Marc Albert and René in Agarone in Ticino. A rich old work was subsequently created there. Up until 1990 a current cartoon appeared regularly on the front page of the daily newspaper Der Bund . Albert Lindegger died at the age of eighty-seven on October 14, 1991 at the Ospedale San Giovanni in Bellinzona .

Appreciation

At a young age, Lindi tried all styles of the time. On the one hand the funny drawings and on the other hand the serious painting in the succession of impressionism and cubism initially had nothing in common. Then Lindi found an independent style in the drawing, which quickly developed into a time-critical caricature, and later also in painting through the group “Der Step weiter”. He switched from abstraction back to representationalism and ironic-narrative content. Despite the ostensible visual wit, it is important that Lindi, as a virtuoso practiced in a wide variety of styles and techniques, was primarily concerned with the formal implementation, from drawing and printmaking to painting and sgraffito to sculpture in a wide variety of materials. He described his art as "geometry let loose". The aesthetics and the composition as well as the rhythm and the oscillation of his figures and pictures characterize his style.

Exhibitions

  • 1925 Christmas exhibition, Kunsthalle Bern
  • 1927 Salon d'automne, Paris
  • 1934 with the group “Der Step weiter”, Kunsthalle Bern
  • 1937 Salon des dessinateurs de Journaux, Paris
  • 1972 retrospective at the Kunsthalle Bern
  • 1982 Exhibition at the Kunsthaus Aarau: "The Methamorphoses of Mr. Lindi"

Works

  • 1935 to 1938 caricatures for the Berner Tagwacht
  • 1947 to 1956 cartoons for the National-Zeitung
  • 1955 to 1990 caricatures on the front page Der Bund
  • 1942 Illustration of works of world literature for the Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich, starting with "Nana" by Emil Zola
  • Works in the Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano
  • Works in the Kunstmuseum Bern

Murals

  • 1952 Marzili teacher training seminar, Bern
  • 1952 Commercial vocational school, Langenthal
  • 1954 housekeeping teacher seminar, Bern-Melchenbühl
  • 1959 crematorium, Bremgarten cemetery, Bern
  • 1959 Police Directorate of the Canton of Bern, Bern
  • 1960 District Hospital, Langenthal
  • 1964 House of Sports, Bern
  • 1966 Centro scolastico Gerra Piano, Cugnasco-Gerra Piano
  • 1979 Chamblon barracks, Yverdon
  • 1984 town house, Grenchen

Literature and Sources

  • Fred Zaugg: artist. Critic. Comedian. ABC-Verlag, Zurich 1987.
  • Lindi: The seventies. Caricatures from the "Bund" 1971 to 1980. Text: Max Grütter. «Der Bund» publishing house, Bern 1983.
  • The Metamorphoses of Mr. Lindi. Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau 1982. Texts: Heiny Widmer, Josef Mäder. Aarau 1982.
  • Albert Lindi: Lindi. Galleria Matasci, Tenero 1979.
  • Albert Lindi: Kunsthalle Bern. 1972.
  • Lindi: Circus Lindi. Aritaku World Editor.
  • Susy Langhans-Maync: Madame de… drawings by Lindi. Viktoria, Ostermundigen 1971; 11th edition 1984, ISBN 3-85958-007-8 (in Bern German ).

Web links

Commons : Albert Lindegger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Refurbishment of the Langenthal School ( Memento from February 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ 1948 "Flight to Hoggar" 1951 "Madagascar", 1961 opening credits to Alfred Rasser's "Demokrat Läppli"
personal data
SURNAME Lindegger, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lindi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH October 14, 1991
Place of death Bellinzona