Jakob Nef

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Jakob Nef (born as Ernst Jakob Näf; * January 2, 1896 in Herisau ; † November 14, 1977 there ) was a Swiss caricaturist , graphic artist and painter.

Life

Jakob Nef completed his training as an embroidery draftsman in St. Gallen from 1911 , where he worked as a designer for the Stauder embroidery company from 1913 to 1919. From 1917 he felt more and more drawn to artistic creation and attended an evening course in figure drawing at the trade school in St. Gallen; his teacher was the painter August Wanner .

His family name: The Näf family originally comes from Mogelsberg in Toggenburg , Canton St. Gallen . Jakob Nef's grandfather moved to Herisau , where they were called “Nef”, ​​as is customary in the canton of Appenzell AR . However, the artist signed his drawings as early as the late 1920s with “J. Nef ». In 1936, he officially changed his name from “Näf” to “Nef” so that everything was in order legally.

From 1920 to 1923 he attended the Stuttgart Art Academy , where he was a student of Christian Landenberger , among others . This study formed the basis of his artistic activity. During his student days he was close friends with Landenberger's master student,  Wilhelm Geyer , who later made a name for himself in Christian art. He also took lessons from the painter Fritz Müller, a former student of the pioneer of modern abstraction, Adolf Hölzel .

After his return he worked as a freelance painter and graphic artist in Herisau. In 1923 he took part in an artistic competition organized by the satirical magazine Nebelspalter , won a prize for his contribution to Festhütte Schweiz and was invited to work actively as a political illustrator. The publication of his drawing Gleichschluss on July 14, 1933 led to the magazine's immediate ban in Germany.

In 1938 he took part in the first Swiss caricature exhibition in the Kunsthalle Bern, together with Gregor Rabinovitch, Albert Lindegger, Carl Böckli, René Gilsi, Victor Surbek and Willy Guggenheim.

He remained one of the most important caricaturists of the Nebelspalter until 1964 and played a key role in shaping its political independence. From 1941 to 1964, Jakob Nef also taught part-time at the St. Gallen trade school.

Part of Nef's estate is in the State Archives of the Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden .

Exhibitions

  • Herisau Museum: Solo exhibition “Jakob Nef”. With the collaboration of the Appenzell Ausserrhoden State Archives, June 18 to October 30, 2005.
  • First Swiss caricature exhibition , Kunsthalle Bern, June 22 to July 24, 1938.
  • Art Museum St. Gallen : Rudolf Dürrwang, Paul Eichenberger, Jacob Nef, EG Rüegg. September 1922.
  • Art Museum St. Gallen: Ernst Burkhard, WA Isler, Hans Looser, Jos. Mauder, Jacob Nef, Arnold Schär. April to May 1923.
  • Art Museum St. Gallen: Heinrich Herzig , Jacob Nef, Walter Knecht, Etienne Tach. September 1925.

literature

  • Adina Lieske: Jakob Nef: painter and caricaturist. Obituary. In: Appenzeller Calendar , Volume 285 (2006), pp. 60–65. doi : 10.5169 / seals-377293
  • An Appenzell Nebelspalter: Jakob Nef (1896–1977). Contributions by Adina Lieske, Jörg Nef, Peter Witschi, Marco Ratschiller and Hans Widmer. Appenzeller Hefte, Herisau 2005, ISBN 978-3-85882415-8 . ( Table of contents )
  • From the workshop of Appenzell artists: Jakob Nef, Herisau. In: Appenzeller Calendar, 1936.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ETH Library Zurich : ETH - e-periodica. Retrieved August 9, 2017 .
  2. ^ Kunsthalle Bern: First Swiss caricature exhibition . Bern 1938, p. 6 .
  3. ^ A b Thomas Fuchs: Nef, Jakob. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  4. ↑ Herisau Museum
personal data
SURNAME Nef, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Näf, Ernst Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss cartoonist
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Herisau
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1977
Place of death Herisau