Lise Gujer. A New Way of Painting.
In Dialogue with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

In the summer of 1922, Lise Gujer (1893-1967) met the Brücke artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in the Swiss climatic health resort of Davos. Shortly after meeting him, she began to produce large-format tapestries based on his designs, which inspired Kirchner as a ‘new way of painting’. The colourful and artistically complex textiles depict the Swiss mountains with their animals and people. Some carpets are also dedicated to the theme of dance. The close collaboration between Gujer and Kirchner continued until Kirchner’s suicide in June 1938. More than 10 years later, in the early 1950s, Gujer continued her work on the loom, moving away from Kirchner’s preparatory drawings and creating new variations on previous motifs. The exhibition shows more than twenty of her tapestries as well as numerous preparatory drawings by Kirchner.

 

The aim of this exhibition is to highlight Gujer’s authorship and thus recognise her place in the history of Expressionism.  After more than 20 years, this is the first presentation dedicated to the work of the long-forgotten textile artist.

 

The presentation will be complemented by an educational room in which weaving techniques and materials will be presented. An extensive accompanying programme opens up other perspectives and approaches to the themes of the exhibition. For example, the artists’ group Traces invites visitors to take part in collective weaving.

 

The exhibition is accompanied by the publication Lise Gujer. A new way of painting. Edited by Stephan Kunz and Lisa Marei Schmidt, with texts by Inka Gressel, Romina Ebenhöch, Bettina Niekamp and Eberhard W. Kornfeld, Scheidegger & Spiess, 192 pages, 35 Euro.

 

The exhibition and its accompanying publication have been produced in close co-operation with the Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur.

 

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Lise Gujer. A New Way of Painting is organised under the patronage of Her Excellency Livia Leu, Ambassador of Switzerland to the Federal Republic of Germany.

 

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