COLLECTED LANDSCAPES
The surroundings of the Kunstmuseum Thun—the Bernese Oberland with its distinctive landscapes—have shaped the museum’s collection: it includes a large number of 19th-century views of Thun and vedute, and to this day, landscape depictions remain a central theme for many artists. “Collected Landscapes” explores this central motif and presents a cross-section of the Thun Art Museum’s collection, which has been supplemented for the exhibition with several important loans.
While the vedute—the precursors to the postcard—which were widespread in the 19th century, were mostly faithful depictions of a city or landscape, the artistic view of the landscape changed significantly in the 20th century. What has not changed to this day, however, are the distinctive landscape features to which artists have repeatedly turned: the Niesen or the Niederhorn, the Jungfrau range or the lake landscape—they have remained important starting points for artistic creation. For example, Jean-Frédéric Schnyder’s (*1945) 38-part series of views of Lake Thun is less a contemporary collection of vedute than an artistic concept.
In this exhibition—featuring works by Burkhard Hilty (b. 1929) and Peter Willen (b. 1941)—the concept of landscape is broadened and interpreted abstractly. With his large-format woodcut “Rüschegg,” Franz Gertsch (b. 1930) leads us into an intimate landscape and invites us to contemplate it. Through works by Peter Stämpfli (b. 1937) and Werner Ritter (b. 1933), we encounter key figures of 1960s Pop Art and experience the landscape as seen through the windshield of a passenger car.
Contemporary explorations of the theme are found today primarily in the field of photography, as exemplified by Balthasar Burkhard (b. 1944), Reto Camenisch (*1958), or Christian Helmle (*1952). Often, however, it is not the precise depiction that takes center stage, but rather the choice of the frame or the focus on a specific direction of view that lends the theme of landscape a new dimension.
Artists featured in the exhibition:
Johann Ludwig Aberli (CH 1723–1786), Leonhard Bantli (CH 1810–1880), William Henry Bartlett (GB 1809–1854), August Baud-Bovy (CH 1848–1899), Achilles Benz (CH 1766–1845), Samuel Birmann (CH 1793–1847), Blanchoud / Jacottet, Buhlmann, Balthasar Burkhard (CH *1944), Reto Camenisch (CH *1958), James Pattison Cockburn (1779–1847), Isidor Deroy (F 1797–1886), Johann Rudolf Dikenmann (CH 1793–1883), Jean Dubois (CH 1789–1849), H. Fischer (CH 1820–1886), Franz Gertsch (CH *1930), Alfred Glaus (CH 1890–1971), Christian Helmle (CH *1952), Burkhard Hilty (CH *1929), Rudolf Huber (CH 1770–1844), Bernhard Huwiler (CH *1961), Kaspar Käsli (CH *1862), Daniel Lafond (CH 1763–1831), Gabriel Ludwig Lory (CH *1763), Matthias Gabriel Lory (CH 1784–1846), Karim Noureldin (CH *1967), Wilhelm Ulrich Oppermann (CH 1786–1852), Markus Rätz (CH *1941), Christoph Rheiner (CH 1774–1850), Werner Ritter (CH *1933), Ludwig Rohbock (D), Friedrich Rosenberg (1758–1833), Adolphe Rouargue (F 1810–1870), Jakob Lorenz Rüdisühli, Leon J.B. Sabatier (F 1805–1857), Johann Heinrich Schilbach, David Alois Schmid (CH 1791–1861), Franz Schmid (CH 1796–1851), Jean-Frédéric Schnyder (CH *1945), Peter Stämpfli (CH *1937), Georg Straub (CH 1805–1877), Daniel Wegelin (CH 1802–1885), Jakob Samuel Weibel (1771–1846), Johann Jakob Wetzel (CH 1781–1834), Peter Willen (CH *1941), Marquard Wocher (CH 1760–1830), Caspar Wolf (CH 1735–1783), Julius Zimmermann (D 1824–1906)