Franz Bucher

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Franz Bucher (2017)

Franz Bucher (born January 15, 1940 in Sarnen ) is a Swiss visual artist . His work includes paintings, drawings, woodcuts, etchings, reliefs as well as wall and glass pictures.

life and work

Franz Bucher received his first inspiration from his father Joseph Bucher, who worked as a decorative painter in Sarnen . After attending school in Sarnen and at the St. Michael College in Zug , he trained as a decorative painter from 1957 to 1962 and worked in Lucerne , Basel and Zurich . The young Franz Bucher spent many hours in his paddle boat in the great outdoors on Lake Zug, watching the animals and the landscape. These experiences shaped his later work. During this time, the decision also matured not to take over the family business and instead embark on a career as an artist. From 1963 to 1967 he studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Basel and the Kunstgewerbeschule Luzern (KGSL) . One of his teachers in Lucerne was the painter and graphic artist Godi Hirschi . In 1965 and 1966 Franz Bucher undertook numerous study trips, including to Greece, Istanbul, Spain and Morocco. From this point on, the first step towards abstraction was made through figurative drawings. This way was mainly influenced by Cubism . A typical work from this period is the plaster relief Seagulls Flight (1967).

In 1967 Franz Bucher married Pia Heer. In the same year the young couple moved to Zug. In the following years the couple had 4 children. The young Franz Bucher received numerous scholarships that opened his way into the national and later also into the international art scene. From 1971 to 1989 he was a member of the Zug artists' association. He received Federal Art Prize grants in 1972, 1974 and 1975 and was a fellow at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma in 1973 . In 1974 he was appointed as a lecturer for artistic design and art teaching didactics (until 2003) at the St. Michael Zug seminar and at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts .

Franz Bucher has been a member of the XYLON group , the international association of wood cutters, since 1976 . The portfolio Xylon 55 with original woodcuts is dedicated to Franz Bucher. Woodcuts and, above all, aquatint etchings with expressive and abstract landscapes, the magical fields , the intres or the square cloud images, the cloud situations that are interlocked in geometric structures or as a picture within a picture, were created between 1970 and 1979. In 1978, Bucher produced ten Meter-wide and almost three-meter-high tactile image , which is made of slate, sand, wood and textile materials and represents a mountain landscape and is a commissioned work for the Horw home for the blind. Influenced by severe cancer, Franz Bucher turned back to the human figure from 1980. During this time, the color black plays a crucial role. The work Statio I to XV (1982/83) shows the human way of the cross in expressionist oil paintings on cotton. Parts of the work are in the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur . Only after he has recovered does he allow more color in his works.

After the exhibition in 1985 in the Bündner Kunstmuseum , with an overview of the previous work, a retrospective touring exhibition through Hungary was held from 1989 to 1990 in the art museums of Esztergom , Tata and Budapest with the support of the Swiss cultural foundation Pro Helvetia . From 1986 to 1992 Franz Bucher was a member of the Kornschütte and Art Prize Commissions of the City of Lucerne. In 1990 he was accepted into the artist community of the GSBM Gilde Schweizer Bergmaler . At the GSBM exhibitions, Franz Bucher presented the painterly or graphic implementation of the theme in watercolor or oil on canvas. In 2012, three parts (III, IV, V) from his large-format five-part work Situation , which is inspired by the Alpstein massif, were on view in the Kunsthalle Ziegelhütte in Appenzell .

From 1995 to 2010 Bucher was a member of the art committee of the Hirslanden Clinic St. Anna in Lucerne. After studying in New York in 1996, he was a guest lecturer in the context of the lecture " Christology " by Wolfgang Müller at the University of Lucerne and guest lecturer in the lecture "Passion" by Henk Geuke at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in 2001 . From 2005 to 2018 he was a member of the Swiss artist group verarte.ch . In 2009 a retrospective of Franz Bucher's work was shown in the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant Anselmo in Rome. This exhibition took place on the occasion of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the death of the theologian and philosopher Anselm of Canterbury .

The long-term examination of atmospheric light led as a logical consequence to the work with colored glass and also to the examination of the northern lights, which he experienced in 1998 and 2004 on trips to Norway and later also to Iceland and then realized in painting. Franz Bucher now lives in Horw near Lucerne. His works are represented in numerous private and public collections, in churches and museums. In addition to painting and graphic work, his large-format relief and wall paintings in public or sacred spaces are also particularly popular.

Bibliography (selection)

  • Franz Bucher, Romano Cuonz , Christian Bucher: Diary of Desire . Albert Köchlin Foundation, Lucerne 2016, ISBN 978-3-907164-41-9 .
  • Franz Bucher: Lights of the North, the northern lights. Wallimann, Alpnach 2007, ISBN 978-3-908713-71-5 .
  • Franz Bucher, Romano Cuonz: Changes . Brattig-Verlag, Alpnach 2002, ISBN 3-905198-66-5 .
  • Franz Bucher - the graphic work 1970–2000. Diopter, Luzern 2001, ISBN 3-905425-09-2 .
  • Fabrizio Brentini: Franz Bucher, my subject is painting. Gisler, Altdorf 1993, ISBN 3-9520235-7-4 .
  • Cut - Printed - La Lumière du Bois. Edition Xylon Verlag, Hauterive 1986.
  • Art from Obwalden. Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur 1985.

Exhibitions (selection)

Awards (selection)

  • 1964/65 scholarships from the canton of Obwalden
  • 1972/74/75 Federal Art Grants, Swiss Art Awards
  • 1975 1st prize Canton Schwyz: "Swiss artists see the Canton Schwyz"
  • 1979/81 2nd Int. Graphics Biennale, Cagliari, cat.
  • 1988 Premio, Milano Capitale dell 'Arte-Artista dell' Anno
  • 1992 Horwer Culture Prize
  • 1996 Obwalden Culture Prize

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fabrizio Brentini: Franz Bucher, my subject is painting. Gisler, Altdorf 1993, pp. 25-27.
  2. ↑ Artist portrait on the website of the pigmento gallery ( memento of the original from September 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pigmento.ch
  3. ↑ Xylon 55 . Woodcut portfolio. Zurich / Berlin 1981.
  4. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Sikart entry about Franz Bucher
  5. ↑ Fabrizio Brentini: Franz Bucher, my subject is painting. Gisler, Altdorf 1993, pp. 90ff.
  6. ↑ Active member of the guild: Franz Bucher . GSBM. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  7. ↑ Member of the guild: Franz Bucher information page on the website of the Swiss Mountain Painters Guild, accessed on September 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ Franz Bucher ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Entry on the web server of the artist group verarte.ch, accessed on September 8, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.verarte.ch
  9. ^ Franz Bucher: Lights of the North, the northern lights. Wallimann, Alpnach 2007, ISBN 978-3-908713-71-5 .
  10. ^ Fabrizio Brentini: Sikart entry about Franz Bucher
  11. ↑ Prize winners from 1982 to 2010 at www.horw.ch
  12. ↑ Entry at xylon.ch, see web links
personal data
SURNAME Bucher, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss visual artist
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Sarnen