Edmund Wunderlich

Edmund Wunderlich (born February 3, 1902 in Bern ; † December 6, 1985 ibid) was a Swiss painter and alpinist .

Life

Edmund Wunderlich - on the way to the mountains

Apart from brief interruptions, Edmund Wunderlich lived in Bern throughout his life. He was married and worked for decades as a chemigrapher in Hallwag's large printing plant. At the age of 16, after a night hike on the Niesen at sunrise, he discovered his fascination and love for the mountains, which determined and shaped his future life. As an alpinist, he experienced the mountains in all their facets. As a draftsman and painter, he managed to express his impressions with pen and brush. Wunderlich drew, so to speak, with his right hand what he felt with his left as a climber.

alpinist

Liskamm, painting by Edmund Wunderlich, 1968, oil on canvas, 120cm × 50cm

From 1920 to the 1960s, Wunderlich undertook difficult mountain tours in the Alps, including various first ascents : the west face of the Lauteraarhorn (1928), the first guideless ascent of the Eiger via the Mittellegigrat (1928), the first ascent of the Oeschinenhorn west face (1949) and the first ascent of the Altels -Westwand (1951). He was a member of the SAC Altels and Bern sections . The latter made him an honorary member in 1976 - in recognition of his artistic work in the representation of the mountain world.

Painter

Tschingellochtighorn, painting by Edmund Wunderlich, 1969, oil on canvas, 83 cm × 72 cm

Wunderlich received artistic support from the Bern School of Applied Arts and from Max Rudolf von Mühlenen . Above all, however, he developed his skills as a draftsman and painter autodidactically, also during study visits to Paris , Lyon , Marseille and Provence . He was a member of the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects (GSMBA) and held the "Carte internationale d'identité d'artiste professionnel".

He has shown his works in various solo exhibitions: In the Stockalperpalast Brig (1951), in the Berner Galerie (1970), in the Thunerhof Thun (1972), in the Alpine Museum in Bern (1974, 1977 and 1982) and in Zug (1981). He was represented with works at six “Alpine art exhibitions” of the SAC, at numerous Bern Christmas exhibitions, at exhibitions in the Kunsthallen Bern and Basel , in the Helmhaus Zurich and in the Kunstmuseum Luzern . Pictures are publicly owned by the City of Bern, the Swiss Alpine Museum, the Swiss Alpine Club and the Royal Dutch Alpine Club .

Motive and effect

With a few exceptions, Wunderlich chose mountain motifs for his paintings and drawings and limited himself almost exclusively to the rock and ice region. From a formal point of view, Wunderlich always remained objective, generously committed to meaningful reality. He portrayed the mountains from locations that are only accessible to alpinists. In Wunderlich's pictures, documentation of the draftsman and the subjective experiences of the alpinist are combined, so that they are able to convey the monumentality and magic of the mountains to a high degree.

Works (selection)

• 1950: Glacier view, oil on canvas, 137.0 × 186.7 cm, Alpine Museum of Switzerland (Bern)
• 1968: Liskamm - Mountain on the Italian-Swiss border , oil on canvas, 120 × 50 cm, privately owned
• 1969: Tschingellochtighorn - Schifertürme in the Bernese Oberland , oil on canvas, 83 × 72 cm, privately owned
• 1973: Piz Palü , oil on canvas, 69.5 × 186.7 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1973: The granite of the Aiguilles Dorées (Mont Blanc) , pencil drawing, 49.2 × 148.0 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1973: The limestone walls of the Gemmi , pencil drawing, 49.2 × 148.2 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1974: Liskamm von Dufourspitze , oil on canvas, 82.7 × 150.7 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1980: Blümlisalp , oil on canvas, 99.0 × 202.5 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1982: Monte Rosa (VS) , oil on canvas, 164.5 × 87.2 cm, Alpine Museum
• 1983: Bernina group from Piz Murtel , oil on canvas, 52.5 × 181 cm, Alpine Museum

literature

• Edmund Wunderlich: Alpine painting . Catalog for the exhibition in the Swiss Alpine Museum, Bern 1974.
• Edmund Wunderlich: The mountain in drawing and painting . Catalog for the exhibition in the Swiss Alpine Museum, Bern 1977.
• Edmund Wunderlich: Painter of the High Mountains . Catalog for the exhibition in the Swiss Alpine Museum, Bern 1982.
• Club news from the Bern SAC section, born 1968–1986.
• Article painter in the high mountains . In: Der Bund of September 21, 1982.

Web links

Commons : Edmund Wunderlich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Wonderful, Edmund. In: Sikart
• When flatlands long for mountains . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung from November 25, 2011