Walter Eglin

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Walter Eglin (1895–1966) artist. Walter Eglin knocking stones
Walter Eglin

Walter Eglin (born March 10, 1895 in Känerkinden , Basel-Land ; † February 3, 1966 in Diegten , Basel-Land ) was a Swiss artist . His works include woodcuts , mosaics , sgraffito , illustrations , painting , stained glass, and chip carving .

life and work

Walter Eglin Museum, Känerkinden
Walter Eglin Museum, Känerkinden
Ryfensteiner Sagenweg in Reigoldswil. The Reifenstein Carriage, Ryfenstein Castle is in the top right of the photo
Ryfensteiner Sagenweg in Reigoldswil
Walter Eglin (1895–1966) artist, mosaic, broadcast, 1942–1948, entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel. Broadcast, mosaic, entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel. On behalf of the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt
Mosaic, broadcast . Entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel
Walter Eglin (1895–1966) artist, mosaic, broadcast, 1942–1948, 3.5 × 30 meters, entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel. Broadcast, mosaic, entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel. On behalf of the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt
Mosaic, broadcast

Walter Eglin came from a family of trimmers and small farmers. His fondness for collecting minerals and stones was evident in his early childhood. At the Liestal district school he found his first sponsor and mentor in the natural history teacher Franz Leuthardt , who often went on geological excursions with his students. With his godfather from Basel he got to know and love the museums there and the works of Arnold Böcklin inspired Eglin to create his first pictures. After finishing school, Eglin refused parental wishes to become a farmer or a teacher. He left his familiar surroundings in 1911 and hired himself out as a farmhand in Cossonay for two years . During this time he was able to deepen his knowledge of French. On his return he worked as a surveyor's assistant, which allowed him to spend a lot of time in nature. In 1914 he was drafted into active service as a recruit .

The painter Theo Engel from Lörrach recognized Eglin's talent and encouraged him to give in to his inner artistic urges and to go his own way. Against all reservations and opposition, Eglin enrolled at the State Art School in Karlsruhe in 1921 . After six weeks he switched to the Stuttgart Art Academy . Two semesters later he was at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart , which he attended for another six semesters. The director there was Heinrich Altherr . Eglin learned various artistic techniques, but mainly woodcut from Gottfried Graf . Eglin created a number of notable woodcut and illustration works in Stuttgart and from 1926 in Switzerland. When he returned to Switzerland in 1925, he was confronted with the negative and suspicious attitude of the people of Upper Basel towards himself and his artistic works. Added to this were the consequences of the global economic crisis , which made many unemployed. Eglin accepted jobs as a decorative painter, house painter and graphic artist, which ensured him a meager income. In 1927 he received a federal grant. This was a further confirmation for him to continue on his chosen path and ensured him material survival for a short time. Through the mediation of acquaintances from Zurich, he found a job there for a short time with the Helvetia health insurance company. Eglin was able to work as a flat painter in 1929 with his painter friend Eugen Häfelfinger (1898–1979), who at that time had a painting business in Zurich . He later switched to the Zurich Painters and Plasterers Cooperative (GMGZ). But the plastering profession was detrimental to his ailing health and so Eglin decided once more to devote himself to his art. At the age of 35 he returned to his home village and designed woodcuts for various magazines.

In the Goethe year 1932 Eglin was invited to Leipzig with seven other Swiss artists . A graphic sheet, a drawing or a watercolor should be designed for Goethe's Faust . Eglin chose the scene from the second part of the tragedy as the motif for his woodcut, as the woodcutters appear after the gardeners at the Kaiserpfalz. Eglin also cut the accompanying text into the woodcut. This work was so convincing for the exhibitors that his work was included in the printed catalog.

In 1930 he founded the cantonal art credit Baselland together with the artists Otto Plattner , Jacques Düblin and Ernst Bolens and in 1944 the Basellandschaftliche Kunstvereinigung, now known as the Baselland Art Association. From 1931 to 1933 Eglin was able to illustrate the legends of the Basel region, which had been collected by teachers, with woodcuts. The woodcut Reifensteinkutsche is one of the most impressive of this series. With these illustrations, Eglin was also accepted by the population. He now got enough jobs that enabled him and his young family to have a better life. In 1932 he married Anna Jörin from Beinwil , with her he had two sons.

Eglin felt that the woodcut was not the end of his artistic expression. After studying in Paris, he began to paint surrealistic oil paintings, carving in hardwood and creating objects with clay, but none of this satisfied him. His painter friend Erik Bohny encouraged Eglin to take part in the competition for the entrance hall of the newly built college building of the University of Basel , which was initiated by the Baudepardament Basel and carried out by Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt . Since the task was kept very general, it should be a fresco or a mosaic , already established artists including Walter Kurt Wiemke and Walter Bodmer submitted their designs. To the amazement of many, Eglin prevailed with his design.

From 1938 on, he found the mosaic and developed his own technical technique when building his meter-long murals. He collected the stones required for this in freshly plowed fields, in quarries and in rivers. As a result, Eglin acquired a great deal of knowledge about the respective sites and knew where to find which types of stones for his works. He tapped the stones on the mallet stick .

From 1938 to 1946 he created the 3.5 × 30 meter large, monumental work Sendung made of natural stones he had collected. It is the largest mosaic in Switzerland and was criticized by many during its creation and felt in the wrong place. It was not until the ceremonial unveiling in 1944 that the first hymns of praise were sung. The man leading the horses shown in the mosaic shows Erik Bohny and the sculptor friend Fritz Bürgin, who is in the group of men, can be seen in the back row, second from the left. For his mother's 80th birthday, the work of art was officially handed over to the University of Basel on November 21, 1946.

At Eglin Fritz Bürgin learned the woodcut and printing technique as well as the sgraffito technique and the production of plaster sculptures. In return, Bürgin helped with the preparatory work for Eglin's mosaic broadcast by looking for the colored stones required for this in nature and splitting them on the peening stick. Eglin captured Bürgin in this mosaic in the youth group. Both had a lifelong friendship.

Another work is the 1958/1959 mosaic made of natural stones, glass and gold leaf plating Luther in front of the Reichstag in 1521 in the Trinity Church in Worms. This is considered to be the largest natural stone mosaic in Germany. During the excavations of the Roman Villa Rustica in Munzach near Liestal , the restoration of the quadriga mosaic was entrusted to Eglin in 1954 .

A turning point in the 65-year-old's life was his stay at the artist kibbutz Beit Hashitta (Beit HaShita) in Israel in 1960/1961. Full of new impressions, he created pictures with unfamiliar plant shapes , surreal people, animals and other shapes, such as, according to his own words, he had found in broken stones in the Negev . So he continued his older work with vigorous dispersion painting and large-format monotypes . In 1944 Eglin was one of the founding members of the Association of Swiss Wood Cutters XYLON and co-founder of the Basel Landscape Art Association.

Broadcast, mosaic, entrance hall of the college building of the University of Basel. On behalf of the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt
Mosaic, broadcast

In 1963 the Basellandschaftliche Kunstvereinigung Eglin dedicated an exhibition to his work in Schloss Ebenrain in Sissach . It became an unimagined success, which gave Eglin a boost and new creativity. In 1964 the management of the 4th International Graphic Biennial in Tokyo invited Eglin to participate.

In the last five months of his life, Eglin made 25 wood monotypes . In addition to extensive graphics, his oeuvre includes many mosaics, sgraffitos and wood carvings in school buildings, as well as glass windows in various churches in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. Many of his works are in private hands. Far from home art, he found a sometimes surrealistic and authentic form of representation.

Eglin was strongly connected to nature from childhood. It is largely thanks to him that the Chilpen was placed under nature protection.

Walter Eglin (1895–1966) artist. Memorial, Diegten cemetery. In the background lies the Chilpen nature reserve
Memorial, Diegten cemetery

On his initiative in 1952 the "Association for Nature and Heritage Protection Diegten" was founded. On the 50th anniversary of his death, the association "Freundeskreis Walter Eglin" published a book about the life and work of Walter Eglin. He was friends with the peasant poet Hans Gysin from Upper Basel, known as "Metzgerhans".

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Diegten congregation erected a simple memorial in the cemetery in 1995 and two church windows based on Eglin's designs were installed in the Evangelical Reformed Church.

The "Walter Eglin Museum" was set up in the former Känderkindener parish hall. In addition to Eglin's biography, on the upper floor there are mainly woodcuts, including those from various Basel-based villages and personalities such as Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi , Carl Spitteler , Johann August Sutter and other portraits.

A number of legend illustrations from the Basel area can also be seen. In a further stage, the ground floor was also rebuilt and inaugurated in May 2001. In this room there are mainly mosaics and wooden monotypes. The Sphinx that made big headlines can be seen here.

Eglin created the two mosaics Mirjam and Sphinx during his stay in Israel in 1960. Both works are on loan from the Canton of Basel-Landschaft. On February 7, 2016, a memorial service was held in the Diegten parish church on the 50th anniversary of Walter Eglin's death.

Eglin has not kept a chronological catalog of works or recorded who bought which of the many works.

Selection of works

  • 1927: Woodcuts by Carl Spitteler , Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Johann Rudolf Wettstein
  • 1931–1933: Woodcuts for the legend book of the Basellandschaftliche teachers' association
  • 1932: Woodcut for Faust , Goethe Year, Leipzig
  • 1932: woodcut, Die Holzhauer,
  • 1932–1937: woodcuts in various magazines
  • 1938: mosaics
  • 1939: sgraffito sundial, stained glass window boy and horse , chip carvings; Schoolhouse, Känerkinden
  • 1945: woodcut, Carl Spitteler
  • 1946: Woodcuts embossed as relief printing, Xylon, Basel
  • 1949: Sgraffito, return of the gymnasts , gymnasium, Oberdorf
  • 1954: Wall mosaic, fox and cock , Hofmattschulhaus, Gelterkinden
  • 1954: Sgraffito, pond , industrial museum , Läufelfingen
  • 1955: Wall mosaic, Primary school grounds, Muttenz
  • 1955: Sgraffito, Olympic Spring ( World Tree and Human Couple ), Commercial Vocational School, Liestal
  • 1962: Wall mosaic, Hutzgüri, primary school, Sissach
  • 1962: Dispersion paintings with the addition of sand
  • 1964: Sgraffito, The Gypsy , Ormalingen
  • 1965: wood monotypes
  • Sgraffito, Kindergarten Bützenen, Gelterkinden.
  • Sgraffitos on private houses in Känerkinden

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1927: 1st Basel landscape art exhibition, Liestal
  • 1928: 17th National Art Exhibition, Kunsthaus Zürich
  • 1931: Exposition nationale des Beaux-Arts, Geneva
  • 1932: Swiss Art Association, Kunsthaus Zurich
  • 1933: Basel painter and sculptor, Kunsthalle Basel
  • 1936: National Art Exhibition, Kunstmuseum Bern
  • 1943: Group exhibition, GSMBA , Kunsthaus Zürich
  • 1947: GSMBA, Kunsthalle Basel
  • 1947–1954: Basel Christmas Exhibition, Kunsthalle Basel
  • 1950: Biennale Bianco e Nero , Lugano
  • 1952: Artist from Basel, Ebenrain Castle , Sissach
  • 1961: Swiss Hozschitzkunst, Städtische Galerie, Biel
  • 1969: XYLON, International Woodcut Exhibition , Musée d'art et d'histoire , Geneva and Kongreshalle Berlin
  • 1963: Solo exhibition, Ebenrain Castle, Sissach
  • 1968: Special exhibition of wood monotypes in Olten , Biel and Basel
  • 1970: Memorial exhibition, Liestal
  • 1982: Art exhibition Baselland, Allschwil Art Center
  • 1985: "The modern woodcut in Switzerland", ETH Zurich graphic collection
  • 1989: "Four decades of art in Baselland", Ebenrain Castle, Sissach
  • 1994: Memorial exhibition for the four founding members of the Baselland Art Association. Ernst Bolens, Jacques Düblin, Walter Eglin and Otto Plattner . Ebenrain Castle, Sissach
  • 1995: Memorial exhibition on Eglin's 100th birthday, University of Basel
  • On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Diegten community erected a simple memorial in the cemetery in 1995

    Memorial stone

  • Sgraffito in Känerkinden

    Sgraffito in Känerkinden

  • Floor mosaic in front of the former house in Diegten

    Mosaic in Diegten

  • Sgraffito, the saga of the Hasenflühli, Walter Eglin Museum in Känerkinden, 1956

    1956, Sgraffito, The saga of the Hasenflühli

  • Mosaic by Walter Eglin (1895–1966), a youth threatened by animals, 1959. Ziefen school building, Basel-Landschaft

    1959, young man threatened by animals, Ziefen school building

  • Wall mosaic, Hutzgüri, 1961, Sissach primary school by Walter Eglin (1895–1966)

    1962, Hutzgüri, Sissach primary school

literature

  • Gottfried Graf: The new woodcut and the problem of artistic design . Eugen Salzer Verlag, Heilbronn 1927.
  • Legends from Baselland. Landschäfter AG, Liestal 1938
  • Xylon, Issue No. 1, 1944. (The sheets are printed from the original printing blocks, usually wood or linoleum.)
  • Traugott Vogel: woodcuts, contemporary artists . Heinz Engel publishing house, Bern 1956.
  • Reinhold D. Hohl : Pictures made of colored stones, The mosaic art by Walter Eglin. Gute Schriften Verlag, Basel 1956.
  • John R. Biggs: Wood-Cuts: Walter Eglin page 39 , Blandford Press, London 1958.
  • Gottfried Keller: The land of the Bible . Walter Eglin, memories from a trip to Israel.
  • Hans E. Keller: Walter Eglin. Life and work. Illustrated with 12 woodcuts and 22 plates. Gute Schriften Verlag, Basel 1964.
  • Xylon, Issue No. 13, 1967. (The sheets are printed from the original printing blocks, usually wood or linoleum.)
  • Reinhold D. Hohl: The wood monotypes by Walter Eglin. 1968.
  • Swiss monthly magazine for architecture, art and the arts and crafts "Werk", Verlag Werk AG, Zurich February 1968
  • Education Department Basel-Stadt. Walter Eglin. In: Art for Basel: 75 years of art credit Basel-Stadt. Art in public space. Schwabe Verlag, Basel 1974, ISBN 3-7965-0968-1 .
  • Xylon, Issue 94, 50th Years of Xylon, The Eleven Founders . 1994. (The sheets are printed from the original printing blocks, mostly wood or linoleum.)
  • André Peter Bloch: On the 100th birthday. Walter Eglin's artistic career 1895–1966 . Art Association Baselland. Society for art and culture. University of Basel, 1995.
  • Peter Stöcklin: Walter Eglin and Diegten. Heimatkunde Diegten, 1996, pp. 407-412.
  • Toni Eglin, Thomas Schweizer, Lorenz Degen, Heinz Hersberger, Ruedi Pfirter, Katharina Wagner: Walter Eglin's stony path. Johannes Petri, Basel 2016, ISBN 978-3-03784-095-5 .
  • René Salathé: Remaining traces from Basel-Stadt and Land , Walter Eglin. Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, Basel 2017, ISBN 978-3-7245-2228-7 , pp. 107-109.
  • Museum commission of the Walter Eglin Museum, Känerkinden. Walter Eglin. The wooden monotypes. His last works. Känerkinden 2020, ISBN 978-3-9523825-9-2 .
  • Barbara Saladin : The Walter Eglin Museum. In: 111 places in Baselland that you have to see. Emons Verlag, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7408-0122-9
  • Toni Eglin: For Walter Eglin's 125th birthday. The wooden monotypes - his last works . Schaub Medien Verlag, 2020

Web links

Commons : Walter Eglin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reigoldswil: Legend of the Rifenstein carriage. Retrieved June 18, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Person encyclopedia : Mosaic on the college building of the University of Basel. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Dreifaltigkeitskirche Worms: Mosaik, Luther before the Reichstag 1521. Retrieved on May 28, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Beate Harthausen: Martin Luther at the Reichstag in Worms 1521. Wormser Zeitung , accessed on May 28, 2019 .
  5. ↑ 1944, founding tenants, Xylon Switzerland. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Basel-Landschaft: 1964 Biennale in Tokyo. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Reinhold D. Hohl: The wood monotypes by Walter Eglin, 1968 .
  8. ↑ Toni Eglin, Thomas Schweizer, Lorenz Degen, Heinz Hersberger, Ruedi Pfirter, Katharina Wagner: The stony path of Walter Eglin . Johannes Petri Verlag, Basel 2016, ISBN 978-3-03784-095-5 .
  9. ^ Kaspar Birkhäuser : Hans Gysin. Lexicon of persons of the canton of Basel-Landschaft, accessed on July 10, 2019 .
  10. ^ Pierre Fretz: Walter Eglin. (PDF) Kirchenbote Diegten – Eptingen, accessed on July 12, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Habitat Känerkinden: Mosaic, Sphinx. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Habitat Känerkinden: 50th anniversary of death, commemoration. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Heimatkunde Muttenz: Primary school foundation. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  14. ^ History of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft: Wall mosaic, Hutzgüri. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
  15. ^ ETH, Graphic Collection: The modern woodcut. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Eglin, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss visual artist
DATE OF BIRTH March 10, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Känerkinden
DATE OF DEATH 3rd February 1966
Place of death Diegten