Bruno Wurster

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Bruno Carlos Wurster (born June 8, 1939 in Bern ; † June 3, 2003 ibid) was a Swiss painter , graphic artist , etcher and lithographer of abstract style.

Life

Bruno Wurster was born in Bern as the only child of Otto Wurster and Irmgard Wurster-Burri. The father was a businessman in a managerial position, the mother had studied piano at the conservatories in Bern and Dresden. The two of them ran an open house with a large circle of friends to which many artists, including Paul Klee and Lily Klee , and later their son Felix and his family, counted. Having developed polio at an early age , Bruno was only able to attend incomplete public schools; therefore his parents let him take private lessons and encouraged his talent for painting at an early age. In 1948 the parents bought a large house on Steinhölzliweg in Liebefeld near Bern, where they and their artist friends cultivated social life and a sense of the beautiful. The budding artist practiced various painting techniques in his own studio and began to present his works to the public in solo exhibitions as early as 1952/53.

education

In 1957/58, Bruno Wurster took a course in animal drawing with Hans Schwarzenbach at the Bern Trade School (now the “School for Design”); at the same time he took cello lessons. In the winter semester of 1958/59, he studied cultural history with O. Michel, also at the Bern Trade School. From 1959 he regularly took part in the Christmas exhibitions of Bernese artists in the Kunsthalle Bern . During his time as a trainee at the Kümmerly & Frey publishing house , he was able to acquire his first knowledge of graphics. 1959–1961 Bruno Wurster was a student at the Max Rudolf von Mühlenen painting school in Bern. In further training courses with Peter Zeiler in Munich he practiced life drawing and learned to collage at the studio painting school . In 1962 he spent two semesters at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Franz Nagel . This was followed by five semesters at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg with Hermann Wilhelm and Ernst Weil . The first etchings and lithographs were made. During the semester break, Wurster worked independently in his own studio. In 1964 he received the encouragement award from the Swiss Federal Art Scholarship.

Creative phase

After his marriage to the physiotherapist Renate Heydel from Hamburg, the couple moved into an apartment with a studio in their parents' house on Steinhölzliweg and stayed there for life. At that time Bruno Wurster was working on an «Icarus cycle» that kept him busy for a long time. In 1970, the gravure work began to dominate Wurster's work, especially etchings and aquatints , initially in black and white. Fritz Karlen from the Eidgenössische Landestopographie and Walter Casserini in Thun took care of the printing . Photos from trips, especially to northern Germany and the island of Sylt , captured his impressions and were spontaneously evaluated and implemented at home. Further trips to Corsica and Lanzarote and especially the cosmopolitan city of New York were reflected in his work. Wurster continued to develop his graphic skills until he was a master. Large numbers of works were created on the large gravure press he had acquired in 1976 and which he had installed in the basement, and a rich creative phase began.

Artist friends

Music was still an important aspect of his life, but it was more listening and analyzing than making music. Wurster maintained contacts with a wide variety of musicians and composers. His childhood friend Urs Peter Schneider dedicated his 1973 premiered works counter Renate and Bruno Wurster. Correspondence with the Korean composer Isang Yun led to a personal encounter with him. But he also corresponded with other musicians and composers, such as György Ligeti , Sándor Veress , Mario Venzago , Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter , Ernst Ludwig Leitner , Klaus Sonnenburg , Roland Moser , Vladislav Jaros and others.

He was on friendly terms with the doctor and poet Peter Weibel until his death, and in 1983 a portfolio with five etchings by Bruno Wurster on five lyrical texts by Peter Weibel was published. The passionate pipe smoker Wurster also actively participated in the Bern artists' regulars table with many well-known artist colleagues.

Bruno Wurster fell ill in autumn 2002 and died on June 3, 2003 after one last short return home in a Bern hospital. His wealthy estate is professionally organized and looked after by his wife Renate and saved from being forgotten with regular exhibitions.

Exhibitions

Works by Bruno Wurster have been shown at over 100 exhibitions, including:

  • 1953: Green Gallery, Bern "17 Bern painters" group exhibition
  • 1955: Xe Salon des réalités nouvelles in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris
  • 1956: Swiss Art Exhibition Basel 1956, Swiss M
  • 1959–1989: Kunsthalle Bern, participation in the Christmas exhibitions of Bernese artists
  • 1960: "Cercle Artistic de Sant Luc", Barcelona, ​​with Christian Megert
  • 1965: Galerie Bürdeke, Zurich, collective exhibition
  • 1966: Fränkische Galerie, Nuremberg, exhibition of the artist groups "Die Hütte" and "Der Kreis"
  • 1969: Hellhof Gallery, Kronberg im Taunus / Frankfurt a. M.
  • 1971: Galerie Corner, Basel, with Peter Kohler
  • 1972: Berner Galerie, Bern, award of the scholarships to the five winners of the Louise Aeschlimann Foundation 1972 (Rudolf Jungi, René Ramp , Reini Rühlin, Urs Peter Stoss, Bruno Wurster)
  • 1975: Kunsthalle Bern “large formats” 3rd Bern art exhibition in cooperation with the GSMBA / Bern section
  • 1979: National Art Center, New York "Swiss Artists", Exhibition of graphic Art
  • 1983: Galerie Atelier Worb, Worb, with presentation of the «Portfolio 1983» (Peter Weibel: five lyrical texts and Bruno Wurster: five etchings)
  • 1986: Section exhibition GSMBA Bern, Kunsthalle Bern and Kunstmuseum Bern
  • 1989: Galerie Zähringer, Bern
  • 1990: Galerie Lysistrata, Bremen
  • 1999: Galerie Herzog, Büren zum Hof , exhibition for the 60th birthday
  • 2005: Retrospective exhibition in Schlösschen Vorder-Bleichenberg , Biberist
  • 2013: Exhibition in Köniz

Awards and honors

literature

  • Bruno Wurster: Zähringer Galerie, May 30 to June 24, 1989 . Exhibition catalog Galerie Zähringer, Zurich 1989.
  • Fred Zaugg, Alexander Egger: Local appointment studio. 101 artists. The Louise Aeschlimann scholarship 1942–1987 . Bernische Kunstgesellschaft, Bern 1988, pp. 150–151.
  • Steffan Biffiger , Fred Bauer, Daniel de Quervain (eds.): Bruno Wurster: painter and etcher 1939–2003. Stämpfli, Bern 2005, ISBN 3-7272-1103-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the Bern and Biel School of Design
  2. ↑ Peter Zeiler's website
  3. ↑ UPSchneider, catalog raisonné, page 12 (PDF; 82 kB)
  4. ↑ Peter Weibel on Literapedia Bern
  5. ^ Franz-Josef Sladeczek, Andreas Müller: Collecting & Preserving: the handbook for the art foundation for collectors, artists and art lovers . Benteli , Bern 2009, ISBN 978-3-7165-1552-5 , p. 270f ( double page online ( memento from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 136 kB))
  6. ↑ estate
  7. ↑ Homage to Bruno Wurster ( Memento from October 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Wurster, Bruno
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wurster, Bruno Carlos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 2003
Place of death Bern