Collection 24
Our Artwork of the Month video series focuses on a selected work from our collection. We give you an insight into the artwork and the artist behind it. On the first Tuesday of each month, there is a lunchtime tour of the Kunsthaus.
June 2024: Gerhard Richter, Schweizer Alpen, 1969
May 2024: Ingeborg Lüscher, Untitled, 1995
The series “Untitled” by Ingeborg Lüscher (*1936) shows five yellow-toned photographs depicting sunsets in the mountains. In terms of subject matter, these photographs are part of a tradition of Swiss art that is well represented in the Aargauer Kunsthaus.
Work details:
Ingeborg Lüscher, Untitled, 1995
Ilfochrome on aluminium, 82.5 x 125.5 x 4 cm, photograph
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
© 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
April 2024: Augusto Giacometti, Amaryllis, 1947
With over 230 paintings, flower pictures occupy a significant place in Augusto Giacometti’s oeuvre. Giacometti painted Amaryllis in 1947, the year of his death, and according to tradition it was his last work.
Work details:
Augusto Giacometti, Amaryllis, 1947
Oil on canvas, 100.7 x 96.2 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Donation from a private Swiss collection
© public domain
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
March 2024: Ursula Biemann, Acoustic Ocean, 2018
Ursula Biemann (*1955) has been making a name for herself since the 1990s with her visually and narratively powerful video works. Her research-based work was initially primarily dedicated to exploitation and migration.
Work details:
Ursula Biemann, Acoustic Ocean, 2018
1-channel video, colour, sound
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Deposit of the Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Bern
Voice over: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
February 2024: Caroline Bachmann, 58 av. J.-C., 2020
The picture of the month in February is “58 av. J.-C.” by Caroline Bachmann. How many canvases does the picture consist of and what is the significance of the columns of smoke?
Work details:
Caroline Bachmann
58 av. J.-C., 2020
Oil on canvas, 80 x 800 x 2.2 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Donation Nicolas Party
Voice over: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
January 2024: Niki de Saint Phalle, Je t'aime, 1971
Today we are looking at the lithograph “Je t’aime” by Niki de Saint-Phalle. The picture was created in 1971 after the artist’s wedding. How can we recognise this?
Work details:
Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002)
Je t’aime, 1971
Lithograph on paper
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
Niki Charitable Art Foundation / 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
December 2023: Hans Josephsohn, Standing, untitled (Tall Worker), 1954-1965
To speak of realism in front of a figure by Hans Josephsohn (1920-2012) seems bold. Rounded, angular, generalising, they build up in front of you and, despite their massive presence, reveal hardly anything of the individual at first.
Work details: Hans Josephsohn, Standing, untitled (Large worker), 1954 – 1965
Bronze, 212 x 72 x 48.5 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
© Josephsohn Estate and Kesselhaus Josephsohn, St. Ga
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
November 2023: Balthasar Burkhard, Alpen, 1993
The Bernese photographer Balthasar Burkhard (1944-2010) is known for his timeless, archetypal, mostly black-and-white and large-format series of motifs. Today we are looking at the work “Alps”. Balthasar Burkhard took the photographs from a helicopter. He shows how magnificent and majestic the mountains are. How do you feel when you look at the mountains?
Work details:
Balthasar Burkhard
Alps, 1993
Gelatine silver print on baryta paper, 168 x 130 cm each
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Donation of the artist
Estate Balthasar Burkhard
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
October 2023: Anna Winteler, Berge, Discours..., 1988
The artist Anna Winteler worked on an alp in Val Maighels in the summer of 1984. It was there that she began to write her “Speech from the mountains to the sea”. And with the artwork here, she combines what she wrote with what she saw there.
Work details:
Anna Winteler
“”Mountains”, Discours des montagnes à la mere”, 1988Photography, print on paper
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau, Anna Winteler
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
September 2023: Hugo Suter, Paravent, 1978 - 2002
Hugo Suter (1943-2013) is one of Switzerland’s most experimental artists. The work “Paravent” consists of various wooden frames that hold mirrored, etched, painted and sandblasted glass – 65 pieces in total. As a key work by Hugo Suter, it reflects the essential themes of his artistic oeuvre and forms a central work in recent Swiss art history.
Work details:
Hugo Suter, “Paravent”, 1978 – 2002
Glass mirrored, etched, painted, sandblasted; clear shield on glass; wood engraved, painted; photograph on canvas on paper, 178 x 100 x 3 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Donation of the artist
© Estate of Hugo Suter
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
May 2023: François Emile Barraud, La séance de peinture, 1933
In “La séance de peinture” by François Emile Barraud, the greatest attraction emanates from the nude model in the foreground. The young woman looks out of the picture space with a doll-like face, lost in thought. Is she looking at us? What is she thinking about? Is she bored?
Work details:
François EmileBarraud
La séance de peinture, 1933
Oil on canvas, 86.2 x 100.5 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau / Deposit Werner Coninx Collection
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
April 2023: Matias Spescha, Cup'en brin, 1964
Today we are looking at the artwork “Cup’en brin”. The artist Matias Spescha painted the picture. The title is in Rhaeto-Romanic. Translated, it means “Bowl in brown”.
Work details:
Matias Spescha
Cup’en brin, 1964
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
© Estate of Mathias Spescha
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
March 2023: Rolf Winnewisser, Portrait of the painter: (...), 2020
In this large-format work by Swiss artist Rolf Winnewisser, visitors are encouraged to create their own story from the merging scenes with various figures and environments. Is the title of the painting a reference to Winnewisser’s story?
Work details:
Rolf Winnewisser, “Portrait of the painter: as Lazarus playing roulette, as a bridge over the abyss, as someone walking in a zig-zag, a wandering concept, looking through empty forms, finally arriving where he can go no further, as a “head over heels”, who greets the big stone in the garden every morning with the words: “good morning older brother”, as one fleeing through the Everglades, interpreting the lines of time as stranded whales, with the “praise of duality” and the “figure of the third” in his luggage, as an intersection and focal point, folded several times, out of focus, similar to a rebus, swinging and tilting, on the screen of his dashboard, with entries ad infinitum. …., “, 2002
Acrylic on cotton, 220 x 280 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus Aarau
February 2023: Louise Catherine Breslau, The study of geography, 1900
Today we are looking at a work of art from 1900: “L’étude de la géographie” was painted by the artist Louise Breslau. Born in Munich, she grew up in Zurich and moved to Paris in 1876, Breslau worked hard to gain a reputation as a sought-after portraitist in the Impressionist circle. Even from a distance, we can see a girl with red hair in the painting of the month for February. What is the girl doing?
Work details:
Louise Catherine Breslau (1856 – 1927)
L’étude de la géographie, 1900
Oil on canvas
65 x 74 cm
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
Voice: Marion Weik
Audio recording: Schalldose.ch
Production: ullmann.photography
Copyright: Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau