Wilhelm Balmer

Paul Friedrich Wilhelm Balmer (born June 18, 1865 in Basel , † March 1, 1922 in Bolligen ) was a Swiss painter .

1898, Balmer, Emil Schill , Fritz Mock and Franz Baur, v. l. No.

biography

Wilhelm Balmer, the son of the mathematics teacher Johann Jakob Balmer and Pauline Rinck, graduated from high school in Basel. Since he wanted to become an architect, he began an apprenticeship as a carpenter and attended drawing lessons with Fritz Schider . On the advice of Ernst Stückelberg , Balmer switched to painting. From 1884 to 1889 the Munich Art Academy in the class of Ludwig von Löfftz . In Munich he met Ernst Kreidolf , Carl Theodor Meyer-Basel , Johann Burger , Albert Welti , Emyl Keyser and Eduard Zimmermann . Zimmermann created a bust for Balmer's son Rico.

Between 1887 and 1892 Balmer made several trips with long stays in Paris, the Netherlands, London and Rome. Balmer also taught as a drawing teacher at the district school in Böckten and promoted Emilio Müller's talent . Study trips to Italy, Belgium, Holland, England, Paris and Le Havre followed , where he met his future wife Alice Vieillard and married in Switzerland in 1893. They had four children together.

When Balmer returned to Basel in Switzerland in 1892, he received a series of portrait commissions. Numerous portraits of children and adults were created, he also portrayed his children and his wife several times and worked as an etcher. In 1897 he moved to Munich for five years and Emil Schill was able to take over his studio on Alemannengasse.

For the renewal of the facade painting on Basel City Hall , Balmer created various facade paintings from 1900.

In 1901 he drew the standard bearer Hans Bär, who fell in the battle of Marignano in 1515, on the tower .

In the same year he and Franz Bauer restored paintings by Hans Bock the Elder on the facade of the market square .

Wilhelm Balmer: Hans Bär , Basel (1901)

In 1903 he created a painting on the courtyard facade with the embassy of the Swiss Confederation, which was moving into Basel at the time, and Emperor Heinrich II , who pointed out that this happened on Henry's Day.

In 1903 he stayed in Florence and in 1906 in Spain. From 1908 he lived on the Rörswil estate in Ostermundigen until his death . In Bern he and his college friend Albert Welti created the large five-part fresco Die Landsgemeinde on the south wall in the hall of the Council of States of the Bundeshaus in Bern. Before Welti died in 1912, he was only able to complete three of the five murals. From 1912 to 1914, Balmer completed the whole picture from sketches by Welti and his own. Afterwards he devoted himself to interiors and portraits in a secluded manner. Balmer was the central president of the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects .

literature

Tapan Bhattacharya: Balmer, Wilhelm. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Stephan E. Hauser: Balmer, Paul Friedrich Wilhelm. In: Sikart
Hans Vollmer: Balmer, Wilhelm . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 2 : Antonio da Monza-Bassan . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1908, p. 422 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

Wilhelm Balmer: In his memories. Edited by Francis Kervin: Erlenbach-Zürich u. Leipzig: Rotapfel-Verlag 1924
Wilhelm Balmer: Wilhelm Balmer's memories. In: Art for everyone: painting, sculpture, graphics, architecture. Vol. 40, issue 8 (May 1925), pp. 241–242 ( digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de ).
Exhibition catalog: Ernst Kreidolf and his painter friends. Bern / Konstanz (Kunstmuseum Bern / Städt. Wessenberg-Galerie) 2006/2007.
Exhibition cat .: Temporary idyll. Painting holidays at Untersee 1880 to 1914. Constance ( Städt. Wessenberg-Galerie ) 2009.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Balmer - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wilhelm Baler In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland
Wilhelm Balmer In: Personal Lexicon of the Canton of Basel-Country
Wilhelm Balmer In: Online archive catalog of the Basel-Stadt State Archives
Wilhelm Balmer In: Swissbib
Wilhelm Balmer In: Basler Stadtbuch
Publications by and about Wilhelm Balmer in the Helveticat catalog of the Swiss National Library
Literature by and about Wilhelm Balmer in the catalog of the German National Library
Paul Friedrich Wilhelm Balme on artnet
Wilhelm Balmer at mural.ch, website on muralism
Obituary and funeral speech for Wilhelm Balmer E-periodica

Individual evidence

^ Matriculation database of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich: 1884, class of antiquities. Retrieved August 4, 2019 .
^ Eduard Zimmermann: Rico Balmer. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .
↑ Swiss engineer and architect: restoration of the market square facade of the Basel town hall. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .

personal data
SURNAME	Balmer, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Balmer, Paul Friedrich Wilhelm (Christian name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss painter
DATE OF BIRTH	June 18, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH	Basel
DATE OF DEATH	March 1, 1922
Place of death	Bolligen

[1] Matriculation database of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich: 1884, class of antiquities. Retrieved August 4, 2019 .

[2] Eduard Zimmermann: Rico Balmer. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .

[3] Swiss engineer and architect: restoration of the market square facade of the Basel town hall. Retrieved November 1, 2019 .