Leopold Haefliger

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Leopold Haefliger (first name: Pöldi ; * July 6, 1929 in Lucerne ; † January 16, 1989 ibid) was a Swiss painter , set designer and mask artist. He was artistic director and drum major of the Lucerne Guggenmusiken Bohème Musig (1951–1976) and Leopold's Alti Garde (1976–1989) as well as co-founder of the largest carnival association, Vereinigte Guuggenmusigen Luzern, and the Vereinigte (1964).

Life

Leopold Haefliger had five brothers. His father Leopold senior worked as a sculptor , his mother as a milliner (hat maker). His training at the Lucerne School of Applied Arts ended shortly after he was thrown out. His father Leopold and the painter Karl Friedrich Schobinger (1879–1951) introduced the young Leopold Haefliger to the craft of art. The family lived in extremely modest circumstances. He partially financed his living by exchanging his masks or pictures for meals in restaurants . At the age of thirty he married Anna (née Sieber), whom he immortalized in numerous pictures. He was friends with the actor Hanns Ernst Jäger , with whom he shared his joy in Bertolt Brecht's theater , the painter Varlin (1900–1977), the Urguggen musicians Josef and Erica Ebinger and Max and Alice Baumann as well as Bruno and Josephine Koch.

In 1960 Haefliger received the recognition award from the City of Lucerne's Art and Culture Prize . He found his final resting place in the Friedental cemetery .

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The motifs of his pictures include landscapes , portraits , nudes , still lifes and everyday situations. In addition to cooks, waiters and waitresses, carnival characters are also a preferred subject . Abstract motifs are only found sporadically in his early work.

In 1971/72 Leopold Haefliger worked as a guest stage designer at the theater in Bonn . He worked on the set design for Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera and was responsible for the overall equipment for the children's opera “ Hansel and Gretel ” by Engelbert Humperdinck . For many years he provided the two Lucerne Guggenmusiken Bohème Musig and Leopold's Alti Garde with his masks (Grenden). He made the masks from paper mache . Although the mask shapes and brushstrokes appear to be grossly simplified, his masks express subtle movements of amazement, mourning, musing and quiet giggles. Decades after his death, his masks are still worn by the Bohème Musig at the Lucerne Carnival .

Influences

The influences of his three artistic pioneers can be seen in his masks: the sculpture of his father Leopold senior, the painting of his teacher Karl Friedrich Schobinger and the art of his mother's headgear. When Leopold Haefliger took over the artistic direction of Bohème Musig, he initially colored the mask blanks from the hand of Bruno Koch, founder of the Guggenmusiken Mais brothers and Bohème Musig. Later he continued the mask production in the tradition of Bruno Koch and developed his style. His fascination for the variety of forms in African and Swiss masks is evidenced by his extensive collection. In Leopold Haefliger's painting, influences from classical modernism can be seen , with a focus on post- impressionism and expressionism .

Formative artists for him were James Ensor (1860–1949), who also achieved world fame as a painter of masks, Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920), Maurice de Vlaminck (1876–1958), Chaim Soutine (1893–1943), Varlin (1900 -1977).

Carnival activist

After a short membership in the Guggenmusik Chatzemusig, Leopold Haefliger joined the third Lucerne Guggenmusik Bohème Musig in 1951. Leopold Haefliger, along with the Basel graphic artist Josef Ebinger, founder of Guuggenmusig, Max Baumann, founder of Chatzemusig, and Bruno Koch, founder of the Mais brothers and Bohème Musig, is one of the so-called Lucerne Urguuggern who attended the Lucerne Carnival in the 1950s and Revolutionized the 60s and in 1952 with the first monster concert laid the foundation stone for the monster parade, the large parade of all Lucerne Guggenmusiken. In 1964, Leopold Haefliger was drum major and artistic director of Bohème Musig involved in the merger of the Lucerne Guuggenmusigen to form the United, whose festival, the Guuggali, he helped shape from the start. The “Bohème Musig” chose the Wilden Mann restaurant as the carnival headquarters, which is still decorated with Haefliger masks during the carnival period. In 1976, Leopold Haefliger separated from Bohème Musig in a dispute and founded the Koch u. a. the Guggenmusik Leopold's Old Guard.

literature

  • Fascination Lucerne Carnival , Volume I: The Guuggenmusigen : Ed. Luzerner Fasnachtsführer, Lucerne 1988
  • Hans Neuburg (Ed.): Leopold Haefliger . Edition Murbach, Zurich 1982
  • Lorenz Fischer (Ed.): Fehrbelliner… march forward! - From the “Mais Brothers” to “Bohème Musig Lozärn” Lucerne 2009
  • Leopold Häfliger, Godi Hofmann; Exhibition catalog Kunstmuseum Luzern; Lucerne 1973

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Haefliger, Leopold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pöldi; Häfliger, Leopold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss artist
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Lucerne
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1989
Place of death Lucerne