Franz Gertsch. The Retrospective
For the occasion of Franz Gertsch’s 75th birthday, the museum franz gertsch is compiling a truly comprehensive retrospective of his works in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts Bern. The exhibition will be shown from November 13, 2005, to March 12, 2006, in both museums.
With almost 40 large-format paintings, the exhibition has collected nearly all Gertsch’s main works together for the first time ever. In addition to this, thirteen monumental woodcuts will be on show, as well as several gouaches and watercolours, making up a representative selection of works by the artist in his other favourite media.
In part one of the exhibition, the museum franz gertsch will be presenting works from Franz Gertsch created in the period from 1969 to 1976, among them main works such as Huaa…! (1969), Medici (1971-72), Maria with Children (1971), Gaby and Luciano (1973), At Luciano’s House ((1973), Barbara and Gaby (1974) and Marina Making Up Luciano (1973).
The Museum of Fine Arts Bern will be presenting part two of the exhibition which is comprised of works made after 1977, among them Patti Smith I, II and V (1978-79), Self-portrait (1980), Irène (1980), Verena (1982), Johanna I (1983-84), the Silvia portraits as well as Gräser I (1995-96) and Gräser IV (1998-99).
A special attraction of the exhibition will be the latest masterpiece Silvia III, which has just been completed after almost two years of work. It will be shown to the public for the very first time in the Museum of Fine Arts Bern and presented in context with the two earlier Silvia portraits. This exhibition, planned in collaboration between the museum franz gertsch and the Museum of Fine Arts Bern, is the first comprehensive Gertsch exhibition since 1980 and offers for the first time ever an overview of all his creative phases. Afterwards, the exhibition will travel to the Ludwig Forum for International Art in Aachen, Germany.
