Max Rüedi

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Self-portrait by Max Rüedi, 2013
Max Rüedi's picture house, photo 2013

Max Johann Rüedi (born March 29, 1925 in Zurich ; † June 7, 2019 there ) was a Swiss painter who helped shape modern Catholic church construction in German-speaking Switzerland with his sacred works .

Life

Max Rüedi grew up in Zurich and received his higher education at the Engelberg Abbey School and at the Schwyz College . After graduating from high school in 1945, he first studied German and philosophy at the University of Zurich , then philosophy in Paris, Rome, Vienna and Munich. Inspired by Être et avoir (Being and Having, 1935) by Gabriel Marcel , Rüedi received his doctorate in 1950 with a thesis on Thomas von Aquin with Alois Dempf in Vienna and Munich.

During these years, Rüedi shifted his interest more and more to painting and decided to become a painter. In Paris he learned the etching technique from Johnny Friedländer and, during his scholarship at the Swiss Institute in Rome from 1955–1958 , he learned the fresco technique from Ferruccio Ferrazzi at the State Academy . In 1966 he married Griete Mattes († February 5, 2019). They had four children. From 1945 he lived in a house in Zurich- Oberstrass , which in the course of his artistic activity has become a picture house .

Artistic focus

One focus of his work was dealing with questions of religion and spirituality . During 40 years of his work, Rüedi participated in the artistic design of modern Catholic churches in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The artistic works in the churches "try to give a glimpse of the divine mystery" "Ruedi's pictures, however, cannot be directly compared with statements about God from the Bible," because they not only illustrate biblical stories and verses, but also question them, so as if man never knew anything more precise about God and always had to experience God anew in amazement. "

  • Glass window crypt Brother Klaus , Zurich, 1963

  • Stained glass window Crypt All Saints , Zurich, 1964

  • Nose brooder. Gouache, paper, 1976

  • Contacts. Watercolor, 1995

Big fish. Acrylic, canvas, 146 × 115 cm, 1970 and 1972

A second central theme in Rüedi's work was people of both sexes, “sometimes with humor, sometimes with sadness, seen as homo lapsus, who tries to live with a number of cracks, contortions, defects and (strange) peculiarities in the world and in relationships ».

Art-historical classification

From 1950, Max Rüedi went on study trips to various countries (e.g. Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Israel, Australia, India and China). These trips gave the artistic work of Max Rüedi new impulses. The work of Max Rüedi combines European and Far Eastern elements. In terms of art history, relationships can be found with some European styles and visual languages ​​of the 20th century, such as those of Paul Klee , Marc Chagall , Max Ernst or the symbolism of Odilon Redon . Far Eastern elements are particularly taken up in Max Rüedi's later work, "from Chinese and Indian painting, but also pictorial inventions from the Middle Ages and the Ranaissance served him as important sources of inspiration".

Max Rüedi's philosophical curiosity allowed him to find new forms of expression that go beyond conceptual definitions: For Max Rüedi, images have become means and language. With artistic imagination he created works that show the diversity of human coexistence, "the hopeless scramble for harmony, the hopeless attempt to fathom the secret of divine activity in it". These worldly pictures, drawings, etchings and paintings want to show the incomprehensible "as cheerful, cheeky humanity and the secret of creation".

  • Devil Angel. Egg tempera, cotton, 2013

  • Clown, death, devil, angel. Egg tempera, cotton, 2011

Works in public space (selection)

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1973: First in-house exhibition at Frohburgstrasse 92, Zurich. Further in-house exhibitions followed in 1974, 1976, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013.

Publications

  • Prolegomena to a philosophy of having via S. Thomas Aquinas. Dissertation. Vienna / Munich 1950.
  • Tages-Anzeiger-Magazin , weekly column illustrations 1988–1989.
  • Cantico di frate sole. (Italian text, illustrations by Max Rüedi), without location, 1986.
  • ... puzzling, like in a mirror. Watercolors, drawings, etchings. Zurich 1996.

Literature (selection)

  • Raphaela Gasser: The windows in the monastery church of the Dominican Sisters of Ilanz. Ilanz 1973.
  • Gonsalv. K. Mainberger: Silence, speech, amazement in front of the work of art - for example in front of Max Rüedi's work. In: Tages-Anzeiger-Magazin, September 10, 1983.
  • Max Rüedi, etchings. Catalog for the exhibition in the municipal gallery zum Strauhof, Zurich 1986/1987.
  • Lisianne Enderli, Pierre Stutz : Groping on the move. Images of God in the Our Mother - Our Father. ( Theology in concrete terms 1.) Lucerne / Stuttgart 1990.
  • Thomas Staubli , Mathias Tanner (eds.): Max Rüedi. Work show. Edition NZN at TVZ, Zurich 2008.
  • Griete Rüedi, Markus Weber: Max Rüedi - life and work. Zurich 2013.
  • Veronika Kuhn: All in all - a cosmos in pictures. Max Rüedi and his pictorial creations. A portrait of the artist and his work. Swiss St. Luke Society SSL. Yearbook. Lucerne 2013.

Web links

Commons : Max Rüedi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Staubli, Mathias Tanner (eds.): Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 24-25.
  2. ^ Thomas Staubli, Mathias Tanner: Max Rüedi: Life and Work in Retrospective , in: Max Rüedi. Work show. P. 11f.
  3. ↑ Obituaries
  4. ↑ Thomas Staubli, Mathias Tanner (eds.): Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 24–25, and an interview with Max Rüedi in October 2013.
  5. ↑ Thomas Staubli, Mathias Tanner (eds.): Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 18-22.
  6. ↑ Quotation from: Griete Rüedi, Markus Weber: Max Rüedi - Life and Work. P. 4. See also: Silvia Strahm Bernet: Max Rüedi and how he sees the world. In: Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 199-202.
  7. ↑ Veronika Kuhn: All in all - a cosmos in pictures. Max Rüedi and his pictorial creations. P. 14.
  8. ↑ Quote from Gonsalv K. Mainberger, in: Thomas Staubli, Mathias Tanner (eds.): Max Rüedi. Work show. Blurb.
  9. ^ Thomas Staubli, Mathias Hanner: Max Rüedi: Life and Work in Retrospective , in: Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 12-13.
  10. ↑ Veronika Kuhn: All in all - a cosmos in pictures. Max Rüedi and his pictorial creations. P. 14.
  11. ↑ Griete Rüedi, Markus Weber: Max Rüedi - life and work. P. 4
  12. ↑ Quotation from: Griete Rüedi, Markus Weber: Max Rüedi - Life and Work. S. 4. See also: Gonsalv. K. Mainberger: Without a title. In: Max Rüedi. Work show. Pp. 203-205.
personal data
SURNAME Rüedi, Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rüedi, Max Johann (full name); Rüedi-Mattes, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 29, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 2019
Place of death Zurich