Willy Fries (painter, 1881)

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Self-portrait of Willy Fries', 1925

Willy Fries (born February 25, 1881 in Zurich ; † March 18, 1965 there ) was a Swiss painter and art teacher . He is considered the most important Zurich painter of the interwar period.

Life

Willy Fries was a son of Anna Fries geb. Löwenthal (1860–1944) and Philipp Fries (1852–1926), music dealers in Zurich; Grandson of Philipp Joseph Fries (1815–1890) and Elisabeth born. Waser (1814-1888); Philipp Joseph Fries immigrated to Zurich around 1844 as a versatile musician from Eltmann near Bamberg (Bavaria). In 1917 Willy Fries married Katharina Righini (1894–1973), the only daughter of the painter Sigismund Righini and Constance Macpherson. The only daughter of Willy and Katharina Fries was the painter Hanny Fries (1918–2009).

Near Portofino , around 1920

After attending school and the arts and crafts school in Zurich with Albert Freytag (1851-1927), Fries studied in 1899 at the Munich Art Academy with Nikolaus Gysis (1842-1901) and Ludwig von Loefftz (1845-1910). He soon got commissioned portraits and exhibited for the first time in 1902. On study trips he often copied famous paintings on behalf of third parties, including in Holland and Spain. In 1908 he settled in Zurich, where he founded an art school, where he gave private lessons in drawing and painting until 1939. In 1921 he made the acquaintance of Marianne von Werefkin and Alexej Jawlensky in Ascona . Since 1927 he was an active member of the Schlaraffia Turicensis.

In 1938 he moved with his family from Schanzeneggstraße to Klosbachstraße 150 and took over the studio of his father-in-law Righini. Fries got him an exhibition of his estate at the Kunsthaus Zürich and Basel. After his 80th birthday he became ailing, he died in 1965.

Public offices, memberships

In 1908 Fries became a member of the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects (GSMBA), had been on its executive committee since 1927, 1937–1944 as President of the Zurich Section, 1949–1958 was a delegate to the annual meeting of the Central Committee, and an honorary member in 1956.

He was a member of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft (on its board from 1912) and in 1914 of the Zurich Artists' Association. As the successor to the death of his father-in-law Sigismund Righini, he examined the import of works of art into Switzerland from 1937 to 1946 on behalf of the Swiss Federal Council.

In other honorary positions he was a member of the municipal promenade commission until 1946, an expert on Swiss Winter Aid until 1946, organizer of the art exhibition to celebrate “1000 years of Hottingen” in 1946; 1938–1959 Vice President of the Benefit and Health Insurance Fund for Swiss Visual Artists.

In 1960 he became an honorary member of the Society of Swiss Women Painters, Sculptors and Craftsmen (GSMBK), and in 1962 an honorary member of the Henry Dunant Society in Zurich.

Works

Dance café , around 1920
Schwingfest , 1918

Willy Fries is known for his portrait art, trained in Munich. In Zurich he received many commissions from private individuals as well as public ones; in 1922 he portrayed the mayor of Zurich, Robert Billeter . According to his own statements, he painted 270 portraits in the course of his life. He was active as a painter on annual travels at home and abroad, for example in 1910 in the Bernese Oberland, in 1912, 1920, 1925 and 1933 in Italy. He also found his motifs at social and sporting events.

Exhibitions

Bouquet of flowers, wrapped , 1964

After taking part in many group exhibitions, he showed 200 of his works in his studio in 1934, of which he sold 20. During the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939, two works and four more in Rudolf Koller's studio were exhibited at the Kunsthaus Zürich, and 89 works (two acquisitions by the City of Zurich and many private ones) at the anniversary exhibition for his 70th birthday in 1951 at the Kunsthaus Zürich .

In 2015, From the Shadow, the Zurich painter Willy Fries (1881–1965) took place from October 31 to December 19, 2015 in the Righini Fries studio at his former residence, and in 2017 the exhibition “To Munich! The early work of the painter Willy Fries », April 29 to July 8, 2017.

Fonts

  • Memories of Spain and Morocco. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , Nos. 160, 167, 174, 181, 188, 195, June 11 - July 16, 1911 (report on his study trip in 1906).
  • Architect Wilhelm Waser Zurich 1811–1866. Orell Füssli, Zurich / Leipzig [1933], 183 p., Ill.
  • Decorative painter Johannes Witt ; in: Zurich Monthly Chronicle , vol. 5, no. 10, 1936, pp. 217-219.
  • S. Righini 1870–1937, exhibition December 18, 1938 - January 22, 1939. Text by Willy Fries. Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich 1938, 28 pp.
  • Sigismund Righini, 1870-1937. Zurich 1938 (New Year's Gazette of the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft 1939).
  • Sigismund Righini, 1870–1937: exhibition. Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich 1962.
  • A Zurich musician under Richard Wagner. in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , No. 1432, June 20, 1953, pages a10 – a11 (about his grandfather Philipp Joseph Fries, oboist, music director and music dealer, 1815–1890).

Willy Fries wrote several pieces in Zurich dialect for amateur theater, which were very successful at the time (unpublished):

  • Mis Vatters Läbesgschicht , performed in 1917.
  • Em Künschtler si Rettig, a very serious comedy , performed in 1919 and 1920.
  • Olympic Games , performed in 1928.

Sources and literature

  • Sigismund Righini, Willy Fries, Hanny Fries: an artist dynasty in Zurich, 1870-2009. Edited by Sascha Renner on behalf of the Righini Fries Foundation. Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess, 2018, 367 p., Ill. with over 200 images; ISBN 978-3-85881-601-6 .
  • Fries family archive and Willy Fries estate, managed by the Righini Fries Foundation (Zurich) ( https://www.righini-fries.ch ).

Web links

Commons : Willy Fries (1881)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to Guido Magnaguagno , quoted in: Suzanne Kappeler: The painter Willy Fries - A chronicler of Zurich life. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ https://www.righini-fries.ch
personal data
SURNAME Fries, Willy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss painter and art teacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1965
Place of death Zurich