Walter Bruno Siegfried

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter Bruno Siegfried (born December 11, 1931 in Zurich ; † March 31, 2008 ibid) was a Swiss painter , draftsman and lithographer . His artistic work can be assigned to the lyrical landscape abstraction.

biography

Walter (Bruno) Siegfried was born into a Zurich family in 1931. He spent his free time as often as possible on his small sailing boat, fascinated by the play of light and water. These light reflections moved him deeply and should be formative for his artistic work. From 1950 to 1955, as a student of Otto Morach , he attended the class for applied painting and independent arts and crafts at the Zurich School of Applied Arts , today's Zurich University of the Arts . In 1955 he made his diploma for applied arts and painting and was awarded the performance prize of the city of Zurich. This was followed by various training courses and study trips to France, Italy, Germany, England and Spain, together with his wife Liselotte, whom he had met while still studying in 1953.

From 1960 he worked as a freelance artist in Zurich. He moved into a spacious studio and a stately apartment at Wiedingstrasse 38 in Zurich and from then on devoted himself only to painting. In 1962 he moved to a new studio at Sempacherstrasse 14. In 1965 Siegfried fell into a first state of exhaustion and depression , and it was only with great difficulty that he could be prevented from committing suicide . A long stay in hospital followed.

In 1966 he was awarded the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize and, delighted with this award, he began to paint again. Fred Licht from the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation described Siegfried's work as follows:

It is the merit of Siegfrieds art that he can give persuasive expression to the Beauty of those rare Moments at which forms are Born and take on a character and a life of their own, while at the same time he espresses the drama of these forms subsiding again into the immense and unshaped chaos which represents yet another kind of majesty.

In the years to come, Siegfried left his house less and less, and his studio became his refuge. Plagued by fears, he worked day and night. In February 2008 Siegfried wrote his last picture and primed and covered two more canvases. He died on March 31st in Zollikerberg Hospital. His grave is in the Rehalp cemetery .

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1961: Zurich artist in the Helmhaus, Zurich
  • 1962: Swiss painter and sculptor, Kunsthalle Bern
  • 1966: Zurich artist, Kunsthalle Basel
  • 1967: Zurich artist, Aargauer Kunsthaus
  • 1971: Color as a sensual experience, Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, Kunsthaus Zürich
  • 1971: Members show their most discussed work of art that they own, Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde, Kunsthaus Zürich
  • 1977: Zurich art scene
  • 1977: Art Basel
  • 1978: Art Basel
  • 1979: Galerie Maeght, Zurich
  • 1996: Walter Siegfried - Pictures and Gouaches, Kunsthaus Zürich

Awards

  • 1957: Achievement award from the city of Zurich for the diploma
  • 1961: Federal painting grant
  • 1962: Tuition fee from the city of Zurich
  • 1963: Scholarship from the Canton of Zurich
  • 1963: Scholarship from the Kiefer-Hablitzel scholarship competition
  • 1964: Prize of the Streicher Foundation
  • 1966: Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize
  • 1971: Prize for hand drawing from the Foundation for Graphic Arts in Switzerland, based at ETH Zurich

Literature (selection)

  • Technology and tradition - recent work by the Swiss artist Walter Siegfried. In: Der Bund , November 19, 1966, p. 7
  • Martin Kraft: A painter of light - To the new works of Walter Siegfried. Leporello on the occasion of the exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zürich from November 8, 1996 to January 5, 1997
  • Erika Billeter : Hymn to Color. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , January 28, 1971.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegfried, Walter. In: Sikart
  2. ↑ https://kunsthalle-bern.ch/. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Kunsthalle Basel. Accessed April 24, 2019 (German).
  4. ↑ Home | Aargauer Kunsthaus. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  5. ^ Art Basel. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  6. ^ Kunsthaus Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich - the art museum in Zürich. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Siegfried, Walter Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter, draftsman and etcher
DATE OF BIRTH December 11, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 2008
Place of death Zurich