Kurt Wirth

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Kurt Wirth (born September 12, 1917 in Bern ; † February 3, 1996 ibid) was a Swiss graphic artist , painter and draftsman .

Life

Kurt Wirth completed his training as a graphic artist ( graphic apprenticeship with Hans Fischer, among others) in Bern from 1933 to 1936 and attended free courses at the Bern trade school. In 1937 he opened his own graphics studio, where he initially mainly designed illustrations for newspapers ( Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Die Weltwoche , etc.) and books. Later he also designed posters , for example for the airline Swissair and for the Swiss Federal Railways . Very early on he made study trips to Paris and Italy . In 1943 he had his first exhibition in Bern in the Liceum Club , and the following year in Zurich in the Galerie Gasser. From 1960 he made numerous study and painting stays in Spain , Greece , Tunisia , Ceylon and Thailand . In 1960, together with Hans Erni , Alfred Pauletto , Celestino Piatti and Hugo Wetli, he organized an exhibition on the subject of graphic artists as painters .

From 1971 to 1978 he was a teacher of composition and image construction at the drawing seminar at the Bern School of Design. In 1986 he was awarded the "Sports Journalist Artist of the Year" award.

plant

As a painter, Kurt Wirth turned to abstraction very early on. In 1955 he formed the "Group Tim" from the abstract painters Jörg Leist, Herrmann Plattner, Werner Witschi and Gertrud Guyer. Together they made a group exhibition in 1956 at Thunerhof, Thun, and in 1957 an exhibition at the Bern Gewerbemuseum with the title “Five Berners show painting, sculpture and graphics”.

In 1965 Wirth published the textbook Drawing, When, How (Verlag Niggli, Teufen) and in 1976 the didactic book Signs / Visualize (ABC-Verlag, Zurich). In 1977 he designed the “Flugpioniere” stamp series for the Swiss Post. He also designed a Swiss coin for Pestalozzi. Murals, oil, tempera and gouache paintings were also created .

literature

  • Stefan Biffiger (Ed.), With a foreword by Peter Friedli. Kurt Wirth: painter and graphic artist . Wabern: Benteli Verlag AG, 2002, 111 pp. ISBN 978-3-7165-1287-6 , ISBN 3-7165-1287-7 .
  • General artist lexicon: Bio-bibliographical index AZ , Munich a. Leipzig: KG Saur, 2000, Volume 10, Page 591, ISBN 3-598-23920-3 .
  • Karl Jost (ed.). Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Art , Zurich and Lausanne: Swiss Institute for Art Research, 1998, Volume 2 (L – Z), page 1133. ISBN 3-85823-673-X .
  • Willy Rotzler, Fritz Schärer, Karl Worbmann et al . The poster in Switzerland . Schaffhausen: Edition Stemmle, 1990, pages 75-76 and 266.
  • J. Rast. Graphic artist as painter: Hans Erni, Alfred Pauletto, Celestino Piatti, Hugo Wetli, Kurt Wirth . Olten: Kunstverein Olten, 1962.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wirth, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss graphic artist, painter and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1996
Place of death Bern