Ernst Graf (painter)

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Kaspar Ernst Graf (born May 17, 1909 in Bern , † August 20, 1988 in Ermatingen ; resident in Leutwil ) was a Swiss painter , graphic artist and caricaturist .

life and work

Ernst Graf completed an apprenticeship as a lithographer and graphic artist in Laupen . He then studied in Munich and Paris from 1929 to 1931 . From 1934 he lived in Ermatingen. Graf presented his works a. a. in the Kunstmuseum Olten , Kunsthaus Zürich and Kunstmuseum St. Gallen . In 1980 he received the Culture Prize of the Canton of Thurgau . The municipality of Ermatingen made him an honorary citizen . His son was the painter Urs Graf.

Graf used a variety of artistic techniques, including watercolors , tempera , drawings, etchings , lithographs, wood and linocuts , glass paintings , mosaics and murals. He mainly devoted himself to figurative art , except for abstract experiments in the 1970s. As a painter, he initially oriented himself towards Vincent van Gogh and Augusto Giacometti . In addition to figures, he mainly painted landscapes from his surroundings such as the Untersee , but also cityscapes and industrial plants, which often give a lonely or abandoned impression. Graf's graphic work is influenced by German Expressionism and the work of Käthe Kollwitz , whereby he mainly chose political motifs. His caricatures mostly show people from the big cities who seem aimless.

Works (selection)

  • Fresco and stained glass window in the Laupen school, 1934
  • The face of our time. Graphic sheets from the years 1943–1946 , caricatures, 1946
  • Lake without water near Ermatingen , watercolor, 1962
  • Glass window in the small council chamber in Appenzell town hall , around 1963
  • Tapestry in the agricultural school in Arenenberg, 1972
  • Winter at the Untersee , woodcut, 1977

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Count, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graf, Kaspar Ernst (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter, graphic artist and caricaturist
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH 20th August 1988
Place of death Ermatingen