Helene Balmer

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Helene Balmer-Gerber (also Helen Balmer; born October 25, 1924 , Langnau im Emmental ) is a Swiss sculptor .

Live and act

Lorenz Balmer-Gerber (1916–2004), Helene Balmer-Gerber (1924), joint effort. Sculpture, woman with offering and guardian, 1993. Granite, marble, limestone and sandstone for the anonymous communal grave, Friedhof am Hörnli, Basel.
Woman with offering and guardian by Helene Balmer, in the cemetery at the Hörnli Basel

Helene Balmer b. Gerber spent her childhood and youth as the second of three daughters in a family of manufacturers in Langnau. She attended primary and secondary school from 1931 to 1940 and developed as an artistically gifted drawing student. Visiting a sculpture exhibition by Germaine Richier in Geneva in 1939 inspired her to become a sculptor. She attended the free grammar school in Bern , where she passed the Matura in 1944 . She then studied for two semesters Architecture at the ETH Zurich and completed from 1945 to 1949 studying in jurisprudence with Licentiate award in Bern. From 1949 to 1953 she studied in Paris with the sculptor Germaine Richier. She learned and applied the traditional dotting technique according to Auguste Rodin and Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, among other things, on the portrait of Monique , which she had cast in bronze at Valsuani in Paris.

In 1954 she returned to Switzerland and met the Basel sculptor Lorenz Balmer (1916–2004) through her trainer at Richier , whom she married in the same year. The couple's hometowns are Lausen, Basel-Stadt and Bäretswil ZH. The marriage has two daughters, born in 1955 and 1957. In 2019 Helene Balmer lives with descendants “Auf der Burg”, the Balmer family home in Basel.

In 1963, Helene Balmer became a member of the Basel section of the GSMBK (Society of Swiss Women Painters, Sculptors, and Applied Arts), later called SGBK (Swiss Society of Visual Artists), which she presided over from 2001, 2002 to 2003. She campaigned for the acceptance and equal opportunities of the sculptors at exhibitions, as well as for their participation in competitions. Helen Balmer is an honorary member of the SGBK.

plant

Helene Balmer, fountain system (1976–80) in the garden of the University Hospital, Basel
Fountain system (1976–1980) in the garden of the University Hospital Basel

Helen Balmer works as a freelance sculptor in her own studio with plaster of paris, clay, wax, stone and wood. Initially she designed portraits, later abstract forms. On the one hand she created hundreds of small sculptures, on the other hand she designed plaster models for monumental sculptures, which she realized with her husband, the apprentices and apprentices of the artist couple, in stone and marble. Many of Helen Balmer's sculptures are accessible in public spaces.

Sculptures in public space

  • 1965: water feature . Draft for a fountain sculpture made of Verrucano granite, schoolyard, Niedererlinsbach SO. Execution: Lorenz Balmer
  • 1970: cloud . Fountain sculpture made of white marble, secondary school, Langnau i. E., designed by Helen Balmer-Gerber, executed by Lorenz and Helen Balmer, 1976
  • 1974: triad . Draft for a monumental sculpture, sandstone (Pierre de Metz), Bäumlihof Gymnasium, Basel. Produced by Lorenz Balmer, 1982
  • 1975: calligraphy . Draft for a relief made of marble, Fröschmatt school house, Pratteln. Execution: Lorenz Balmer, 1982
  • 1976: garden design . Draft for Basel Cantonal Hospital, landscaping with the inclusion of a watercourse over stepped concrete basins. Execution: 1980
  • 1980: Spatial writing . Draft for a monumental sculpture in Laufener Kalkstein, Kirchgemeindehaus, Dornach. Execution: Lorenz Balmer
  • 1990: Woman with dedication and guardian . Draft for two monumental sculptures made of granite, marble, limestone and sandstone for the anonymous communal grave at the Hörnli cemetery, Basel. Execution: Lorenz Balmer, 1992–1993
  • 1992/1993: Large bouquet of flowers . Draft for a monumental sculpture made of Greek marble, “Auf der Burg” garden, Alemannengasse 44, Basel. Execution: Lorenz Balmer, David de Caro, Irene von Arb and Irene Maag
  • 2019: metamorphosis . Draft in clay, 1960, cast bronze 2019: Kunsthaus Zug

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 1986: Sculptures, Galerie Franz Mäder, Basel
  • 2002: Orangery, Sarasin Park Riehen BS
  • 2008: "Helen Balmer, 60 years of sculptural work", in two studios and in the garden, Alemannengasse 44, Basel
  • 2013: “Helen Balmer, Figurines”, AdK Gallery, Amsterdam
  • 2017: Art in the old Bear Hall, Langnau i. E.
  • 2017: “Heads and Birds”, frame art, art windows, Silvia Boss, Basel
  • 2018: "Gertrud Spiess, first female President of the Grand Council", bronze bust, 50 years of the Grand Councilors for Basel City, anniversary in Basel Town Hall
  • 2019: “From the figure to the space - sculptures, objects, installations of the collection”. Helen Balmer: Metamorphosis . Kunsthaus Zug
  • 2019: "Everything was already there!" Exhibition on the 95th birthday of Helen Balmer, David de Caro and Andreas Chiquet; Alemannengasse 44, Basel

Double exhibitions

  • 1981: Helen Balmer, Basel, sculptures with Dorette Hügin, Riehen, oil paintings, collages, drawings , auditorium of the Bodenacker high school, Liestal
  • 1988: Helen Balmer, sculptures, with Olivier Saudan, pictures - Galerie Franz Mäder, Basel
  • 1988: Helen Balmer, sculptures, with Jakob Schärer, drawings and paintings - IST-Galerie, Burgdorf
  • 1995: Helen and Lorenz Balmer, Philipp Mohler, Liestal, in the picture and frame studio
  • 1997: Sculptures in dialogue with the Stedtli , Helen Balmer with Annatina Graf, Brauereichäller, Laufen
  • 1997: Helen Balmer and Lorenz Balmer, 100 sculptures , Sprützehüsli, Oberwil
  • 2004: Helen Balmer, sculptures and Florian Streit, picture gallery Mazzara, Riehen
  • 2010: Helen Balmer, ruimtelijk werk and Dick Spyer, schilderijen en werk op papier, Beelden , Galerie AdK, Amsterdam

Prices (selection)

  • 1965: 1st prize for fountain sculpture made of Verrucano granite, Niedererlinsbach schoolyard
  • 1970: 1st prize for fountain sculpture cloud made of white marble, secondary school Langnau i. E., executed 1976
  • 1974: 1st prize for Sculpture Dreiklang , Bäumlihof Gymnasium Basel
  • 1975: 1st prize for relief calligraphy in marble, secondary school II, Fröschmatt, Pratteln
  • 1976: 1st prize for garden design, central part of the garden of the Basel Cantonal Hospital. "Terrain design including a watercourse over stepped concrete basins"
  • 1984: 1st prize for La fille aux fleurs , plaster, from the Lyceum Suisse on the occasion of the Concours national feminin des Beaux-Arts , La Chaux-de-Fonds
  • 1990: 1st prize of the Basel-Stadt art credit : Competition for the communal grave in the Hörnli cemetery in Basel: woman with offering and guardian

literature

  • Joachim Breitner a. a .: Isaak and Charlotte Riehm with their descendants. Mannheim 2011, p. 203.
  • Katrin O'Shea-Balmer, Hans-Joachim Müller: Helen Balmer - sculptor. Catalog for the exhibition in the studios and in the garden at Alemannengasse 44, Basel, May 17 to June 8, 2008. Basel 2008.
  • Andreas Chiquet, Isabel Zürcher: Helen Balmer - Set signs. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2020, ISBN 978-3-85616-920-6 .
  • Agathe Straumann, Basel-Stadt Education Department: Helene Balmer. In: Art for Basel: 75 years of art credit Basel-Stadt. Art in public space. Schwabe Verlag, Basel 1974, ISBN 3-7965-0968-1 .

Web links

Commons : Helene Balmer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martina Rutschmann: The Basel sculptress is still creative at 94 years of age. In: bz - newspaper for the Basel region . September 6, 2018, accessed on February 8, 2019 (Swiss Standard German).
personal data
SURNAME Balmer, Helene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balmer-Gerber, Helene; Balmer, Helen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Langnau in the Emmental