Aldo Patocchi

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Aldo Patocchi (born July 22, 1907 in Basel , † September 4, 1986 in Lugano ) was a Swiss graphic and woodcut artist. He is considered one of the leading Swiss wood cutters and an important representative of Ticino graphics of the 20th century.

life and work

Aldo Patocchi was the son of the post office clerk Luigi and Elisa, née Keller, from Thurgau . He grew up with his three brothers in Basel, Airolo and Lugano . There Patocchi attended the Progymnasium , where his drawing talent was encouraged by Giuseppe Zoppi . As an autodidact , Patocchi began to illustrate literary texts and in 1925 Zoppi recommended him as an illustrator for the literary magazine L'Eroica by Ettore Cozzani .

Patocchi spent the summer holidays with his brothers with their grandfather Johannes Keller in Frauenfeld . During one of his last vacation stays in 1937, Patocchi was allowed to portray the founder of the Thurgauische Museums-Gesellschaft and former rector of the canton school in Frauenfeld, Gustav Büeler (1851–1940).

One of the first patrons of Patocchi was the art critic Johannes Widmer (1876–1934). In 1928 his first woodcut cycle of twenty woodcuts by "Fremiti die selve" appeared, which earned him a federal art grant . His woodcuts were made with the hollow cut on the very hard "head wood " made of boxwood .

Between 1925 and 1931, Patocchi won four federal grants. In 1932 he received the gold medal at the Triennale for Decorative Arts in Monza , the first of the numerous awards he received at national and international exhibitions. Patocchi was able to show his works at the Biennale di Venezia in 1936 .

From 1934 to 1978 Patocchi was editor of the Illustrazione ticinese and board member of Pro Helvetia , vice-president of the Ticino GSMBA , later its honorary member. As co-founder and president of Xylon , he presented the jury at many national and international exhibitions and founded the international black and white exhibition "Bianco e Nero" in Lugano in 1950, which he promoted until 1972. Patocchi was also on the purchasing committee for the graphics collection at the Polytechnic in Zurich .

Patocchi presented his works a. a. in the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen , Kunstmuseum Bern , Kunstmuseum Luzern , Kunsthaus Aargau and Kunsthaus Zürich .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Albert Schoop: Portrait Gustav Büeler. Retrieved April 2, 2020 .
  2. ^ Albert Schoop: Aldo Patocchis Frauenfeld memories. In: Thurgauer Jahrbuch , Vol. 58, 1983, pp. 66–79. ( e-periodica.ch )
personal data
SURNAME Patocchi, Aldo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss graphic artist and woodcut artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 1986
Place of death Lugano