Ernst Morgenthaler

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Ernst Morgenthaler (born December 11, 1887 in Kleindietwil ; † September 7, 1962 in Zurich ) was a Swiss painter and graphic artist .

Life

Ernst Morgenthaler was born in Kleindietwil in 1887 as the son of an engineer and director of the local railways. In 1897 the family moved to Bern , where he attended high school. Then he completed an apprenticeship in a silk mill in Bern and took lessons in a "silk weaving school" in Zurich. Morgenthaler worked as a businessman in Thalwil for four years. However, this activity did not fill him. After hesitating for a long time between music and the fine arts, he decided in favor of a career as a painter. In Zurich Morgenthaler took painting lessons from Eduard Stiefel and then from Fritz Burger in Berlin .

From 1914 to 1915 Morgenthaler was on the Oschwand with Cuno Amiet and trained in oil painting. There he met his wife Sasha von Sinner , whom he married in 1916. In the same year Morgenthaler stayed in Munich for his training, and benefited from Paul Klee who lived there .

Erdbeeri-Mareili fresco, 1941
Strawberry Mareili fresco

Since 1920 its increasing popularity led to a large number of exhibitions. In 1922 Morgenthaler drew the first cover picture for the Nebelspalter .

After his return from Munich, Morgenthaler lived with his wife for a short time in Hellsau and from 1918 to 1920 in Oberhofen am Thunersee, where Hermann Hubacher and Fritz Brun also lived. From 1920 he lived in Wollishofen and from 1923 finally in Küsnacht . The painter received further inspiration from his family's move to the vicinity of Paris (1928) and from several trips, particularly to North Africa . In 1931 the family moved back to Switzerland (to Zurich-Höngg ).

Among Morgenthaler's friendly relationships with painters, musicians and writers, the one with Hermann Hesse deserves special mention. In March 1922, the writer Robert Walser was a guest of the Morgenthaler family in Wollishofen for eight days .

From 1951 to 1953 he was President of the Federal Art Commission . At Morgenthaler's suggestion, Hans Stocker succeeded him. In 1957 he started to travel again. In Sardinia he bought a residence for his family.

In addition to oil paintings , watercolors , wall paintings and drawings , his work also includes a number of his own writings.

One of his children became internationally known as the doctor, painter, juggler, psychoanalyst and author Fritz Morgenthaler (1919–1984). His second son, Niklaus Morgenthaler , became an architect. He was a partner in the internationally renowned architecture firm Atelier 5 , taught at various universities in the USA and was director of the Basel School of Applied Arts .

Ernst Morgenthaler died in Zurich in 1962. He found his final resting place in the Zurich Hönggerberg cemetery .

Collections

Ernst Morgenthaler's pictures can be found in the most important Swiss museums: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau; Kunstmuseum Bern , Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, Kunsthaus Glarus , Art Museum Olten , Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Art Museum Solothurn , Art Museum Thun , Art Museum Winterthur , Museum Oskar Reinhart Winterthur, Kunsthaus Zurich .

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst Morgenthaler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nebelspalter, 1922: Cover picture by Morgenthaler, p. 31. Accessed October 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Zürcher Illustrierte, 1933: Why I live in Zurich. Retrieved October 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ See Walser biography, to be read, among other things, in “Stories”, Vol. 2 of the Walser complete edition published by Suhrkamp-Verlag
  4. ^ Book description , accessed on August 7, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Morgenthaler, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Kleindietwil
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 1962
Place of death Zurich