«... die Grenzen überfliegen». Hermann Hesse the Painter

Hesse’s work as a visual artist played an important role in his development. His concentrated and complex visual language furnishes us with a key to understanding his personal development, how he comprehended art, and his literary work. This groundbreaking exhibition in regard to Hermann Hesse’s reception pays tribute to his contribution to modern art.

In 2012, 100 years will have passed since Hermann Hesse moved to Bern. “Ougspurgergut” in Schosshalde, “Lohn” in Kehrsatz, and Bremgarten castle are the sites that are closely affiliated to Hermann Hesse in Bern and where he sought inspiration and stimulation. Hesse’s years in Bern from 1912 to 1919 were not only decisive for his literary work. During this period – in which he wrote Rosshalde, his novel about an artist – he began his largely unknown career as a painter that culminated in the 1920s and 1930s when he lived in Montagnola. 

From the time of his very first attempts at painting, the centenary exhibition recalls all the phases in the artist’s creative development, the subject matter he tackled, and the genres and styles he experimented with: early sketches of a great diversity of things, large-format water colors, finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings, and small-format illustrations for writings.