The term kaleidoscope is understood in this context as a symbol for lively colorfulness, for a versatile sequence of motifs, colors and sensory impressions when viewing the works. Visitors to the exhibition will experience a kaleidoscope of Franz Gertsch's art. The motto will also be applied to the program of the anniversary celebration on Saturday, September 17, 2022, which will feature a variety of art mediation, musical and culinary highlights.
Over the decades, Franz Gertsch has created an extensive body of work in which certain motifs appear in variations. Be it the same motif in the techniques of painting and woodcut or even in the same technique in color variations. In the exhibition, the three Silvia paintings are now brought together for the first time in many years: While "Silvia I" (1998) is owned by the Museum Franz Gertsch and plays a central role in its founding history, "Silvia II" (2000) belongs to the collection of the Museum Kurhaus Kleve (D), and "Silvia III" (2003/04) to the Kunsthaus Zürich. In another room woodcuts of the so-called "Rainbow Series" of "Silvia" (2001/02) from the artist's collection are exhibited. The group of works "Guadeloupe" is also present in paintings and woodcuts in the museum for the first time in years - since 2014 the paintings were on permanent loan at the Museum Folkwang, Essen (D). Wide open is the variety of motifs grasses, butterbur, forest path and seasonal representations in the techniques of painting and woodcut - the spectrum here ranges from representations in local color to monochrome and the landscapes of the late years bathed in true ultramarine blue. One room is dedicated to the theme of the "sea": Drawing on photographic originals created in the 1970s in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Franz Gertsch has created additional paintings and woodcuts on the theme since 2013. The woodcut "Sea" (2020/21) and the painting "Sea II" (2021/22) are exhibited here for the first time.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Wesle in collaboration with the artist.
Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.
