Fred Stauffer

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Friedrich Arnold Stauffer (born August 29, 1892 in Gümligen , municipality of Muri near Bern ; † September 6, 1980 in Thörishaus , municipality of Köniz ) was a Swiss painter , draftsman and graphic artist .

Life

Fred Stauffer grew up in Gümligen and Bern. His father was the teacher Arnold Stauffer, his mother was Margrith geb. Reber. From 1908 he attended the teacher training seminar in Hofwil. There he had drawing lessons from Emil Prochaska and music lessons from Hans Klee, Paul Klee's father . After teaching at the Chapf School in Eggiwil, he attended Walter Georgi's drawing class at the Karlsruhe Art Academy from 1914 . From 1915 to 1916 he went to the Munich Art Academy with Franz von Stuck . The friendship with Alfred Glaus and Augustin Meinrad Bächtiger began in Munich . At that time, the Munich galleries were exhibiting the works of Edvard Munch , which greatly impressed Fred Stauffer.

After his return to Switzerland in 1916, he learned life drawing in Ernst Linck's evening classes . During this time, Fred Stauffer wrote poems, plays and reviews. In 1921 he married Ruth Classen (1895–1974), who in 1936 also embarked on a career as a painter and mosaicist. Fred Stauffer was a long-time member of the GSMBA , his first major exhibition was his participation in the annual exhibition of the GSMBA in 1919 at the Kunsthaus Zürich . In 1925 he exhibited in the Kunsthalle Bern together with Giovanni Giacometti , Victor Surbek , E. Zeller and C. Angst. In 1926, she participated in an exhibition in the Glaspalast in Munich . Fred Stauffer was also represented at the Venice Biennale in 1926 . In the period that followed, Fred Stauffer was able to exhibit at all major museums in Switzerland, for example the Kunsthalle Basel (1938), the Kunstmuseum Luzern (1939) or the Kunstmuseum Bern (1944 and 1951).

Fred Stauffer initially had various places of residence in Switzerland, including in Köniz , Arlesheim and Spiez . He made numerous trips to France, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. From 1943 the Stauffers lived permanently in the city of Bern . The first monograph on Fred Stauffer by Walter Hugelshofer was published that year .

In 1952 and 1962 Fred Stauffer had solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Bern . In 1959 he took part in the Premio il Fiorino exhibition in Florence . After his wife's death in 1974, he moved to Thörishaus to live with his son Hans Stauffer in 1977. He died there in 1980. Ruth Stauffer had several exhibitions with her husband.

The painter mostly sought relaxation and inspiration in Lauenen or on Lake Thun. In 1958 he built his own chalet in Lauenen. The lush green oil painting Stormy Mood in Lauenen (1945) is inspired by this place. Stauffer became more colorful and expressive. This was also evident in the chalk and oil pen drawings. The newspaper Der BUND wrote on the occasion of an exhibition in the Könizer Galerie in 1989: Anyone who remembers Stauffer as a painter of slush landscapes, for example, will be amazed at the flaming colors that expressively capture the character of a landscape. However, Fred Stauffer remained essentially true to his more representational style; he did not go along with modern developments with all their numerous experimental facets and abstractions.

Even after his death, Fred Stauffer's works were exhibited again and again. On the occasion of the most extensive exhibition to date at the Saner Foundation in Studen near Biel , the new monograph by Anna M. Schafroth was published in 2007. The Hans & Marlis Suter art collection also honored the painter and graphic artist in two exhibitions: in 2007 together with Victor Surbek and Hugo Wetli in the Wichterheerghut in Oberhofen and in 2015 together with Albert Schnyder in the Hochhüs in Steffisburg .

plant

Stauffer played an important role in Swiss landscape painting after Ferdinand Hodler . The very extensive work is assigned to late Swiss Expressionism . Today his pictures are represented in numerous collections and museums, for example in the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur, the Kunstmuseum Winterthur , the Kunstmuseum Solothurn , the Kunstmuseum Thun or the art collection Hans & Marlis Suter in Steffisburg.

Many of Stauffer's pictures express his ties to his homeland. He mainly painted landscapes, as well as scenes from everyday urban life and portraits. He used various techniques such as oil painting , gouache , watercolor and color lithography . Typical are his lithographs with motifs of horse-drawn vehicles, cornfields in the wind or Emmental farmhouses. His painterly work is influenced by the graphics, the colors often contain dark borders, but the motifs are clearly structured as a result. Paintings with bright orange or blue exist from his later work. Landscape near Münchwiler (1960) is a typical example. The orange flows over the field in the foreground like a carpet, the yellow sky enhances the lively expression of the orange, while the trees and clouds appear very dark. This gives the picture a strangely melancholy mood. The late oil painting Winter Evening Münsingen (1969) is also atmospheric with the figures on ice-cold turquoise on the ground, which contrasts with an extremely bright orange in the sky. With its pale yellow sun, it embodies the longing for summer. In between are the typically gloomy trees in the Fred Stauffer style.

Stauffer's works can be found in public spaces with numerous wall paintings and glass windows. In 1949 he was commissioned by the Federal Art Collection for a mural in the Bundeshaus (Bern). The large-format oil painting Bergfest bei Lauenen can still be seen in the east meeting room . The 5.5 meter wide work shows a mountain society at seated tables and while dancing. Because of the dark colors, the general mood of the society depicted does not seem happy and cheerful, it is not an idealization like other contemporaries with similar motifs, but rather a critical questioning. In 1968 the four large glass windows with the figures of Noah, Moses, Christ and John on the south wall in the church in Merligen were created . Numerous book illustrations testify to his versatility.

student

Fred Stauffer had a great influence on the painters in the canton of Bern during his time. His wife Ruth and the Oberdiessbach painter and graphic artist Paul Freiburghaus were among his students . Painters like Bendicht Friedli were also influenced.

Exhibitions (selection)

literature

  • Hans Mühlestein : Fred Stauffer In: Architektur und Kunst , Vol. 15, 1928, pp. 65–73
  • Faessler, Silvan: Fred Stauffer in Sikart 1998
  • Hugelshofer, Walter: Fred Stauffer , Verlag Herbert Lang, Bern 1943
  • Schafroth, Anna M .: Fred Stauffer 1892-1980 , Benteli 2007, ISBN 978-3-7165-1496-2

Web links

Commons : Fred Stauffer  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1915, entry in the matriculation register for Fred Stauffer
  2. ^ Schafroth, Anna M .: Fred Stauffer 1892-1980 , Benteli 2007, ISBN 978-3-7165-1496-2
  3. ^ Caesar Menz: Switzerland's participation in the Venice and Sao Paulo biennials , in: Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History, Issue 4, 43/1986
  4. ^ Hugelshofer, Walter: Fred Stauffer , Verlag Herbert Lang, Bern 1943
  5. ^ Contribution to the exhibition in the Könizer Galerie in Der BUND May 19, 1989
  6. ↑ Fred Stauffer . Sane Foundation. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  7. ↑ Faessler, Silvan: Fred Stauffer in Sikart 1998
  8. ↑ Shown on pages 26 and 111 in: Schafroth, Anna M .: Fred Stauffer 1892-1980 , Benteli 2007, ISBN 978-3-7165-1496-2
  9. ↑ The oil painting is shown on: [1]
  10. ↑ available at www.mural.ch: [2]
  11. ↑ accessed in August 2017 at: [3]
  12. ^ Zaugg, Fred: Paul Freiburghaus, Stämpfli Verlag, Bern 2007, ISBN 978-3-7272-1115-7
  13. ^ Walter Hugelshofer: Fred Stauffer
personal data
SURNAME Stauffer, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stauffer, Friedrich Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter, draftsman and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Gümligen
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1980
Place of death Thörishaus