In the spring/summer of 2025, the Franz Gertsch Museum, at the suggestion of the Cultural Commission of the Emmental Regional Conference, which has supported the museum since 2021, will present an exhibition on artistic creation from the Emmental. The exhibition will showcase artworks by Emmental artists or works related to the Emmental, primarily from the possession of the 39 municipalities that have joined the Regional Conference. The exhibition spans a wide range of well-known representatives from the 19th/20th centuries to more recent and contemporary art in mediums such as painting, watercolour, drawing, printmaking, photography, object art, sculpture, and ceramics.
Featuring works by Andreas Althaus (*1951), Hansueli Anliker (1941 – 2008), Cuno Amiet (1868 –1961), Alfred Bachmann (1880 –1964), Oliviu Beldeanu (1924 –1960), Manuel Burgener (*1978), Max Buri (1868 –1915), Henri Georges Delacour (1878 –19??), Ueli Dolder (*1951), Heinz Egger (*1937), Erika Fankhauser Schürch (*1969), Hans Gartmeier (1910 –1986), Werner Gfeller (1895 –1985), Jürg Grünig (*1939), Roland Kämpf (*1961), Sangwoo Kim (*1980), Hans Kohler (1939 – 2006), Selina Lutz (*1979), Rebecca Mäder (*1978), Willi Meister (1918 – 2012), Peter Merz (*1942), Ueli Mürner (*1953), Werner Neuhaus (1897 –1934), Hans Nussbaumer (1920 –1985), Ernst Purtschert (*1950), Aschi Rüfenacht (*1952), Jakob Siegenthaler (1884 –1969), Hans Stalder (*1957), Margrit Stalder (*1956), Fritz Steffen (*1947), and Ruth Steiner (1931 – 2022).
The opening of the exhibition features atmospheric photographs of the Emmental landscapes by Ernst Purtschert from his multimedia project “Die Emme… ein zorniger Fluss… ohne Quelle!” (The Emme… an angry river… without a source!). Painted landscape views from the Emmental, the area around Niederbipp and the Entlebuch by Ueli Dolder and Peter Merz are also displayed in this room.
In the next hall, in addition to loans from various municipalities, works from the art collection of the City of Burgdorf, which includes around 700 works, are represented in larger numbers. Chronologically, the exhibition begins with landscapes and a self-portrait each by Cuno Amiet and Max Buri. The view from the Lueg Pass, just seen in the photographs, is encountered again as a painting. As the tour progresses, visitors come across various Emmental houses from past and present and other landscapes finely drawn to generously painted. Ruth Steiner is represented with a colourful view of Burgdorf. More abstract and small-scale works by Hans Kohler, active in the field of Art Brut, and Jürg Grünig are also exhibited. A small group of works revolves around Thorberg Castle (since 1893 a correctional facility in the municipality of Krauchthal) with documentary photographs by inmate Henri Georges Delacour and a sculpture created in prison by Romanian anti-communist activist Oliviu Beldeanu. The “Denkwand” (Thinking Wall) by Heinz Egger from his Burgdorf studio, to which he pinned his sketches, thoughts, newspaper cuttings and other material, is also displayed. On a long pedestal, we show a group of contemporary ceramics by Rebecca Mäder, Sangwoo Kim, Aschi Rüfenacht and Erika Fankhauser Schürch, whose stoneware reliefs each depict one square kilometer of the Emmental.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Wesle and Catharina Vogel.
The opening of the exhibition features atmospheric photographs of the Emmental landscapes by Ernst Purtschert from his multimedia project “Die Emme… ein zorniger Fluss… ohne Quelle!” (The Emme… an angry river… without a source!). Painted landscape views from the Emmental, the area around Niederbipp and the Entlebuch by Ueli Dolder and Peter Merz are also displayed in this room.
In the next hall, in addition to loans from various municipalities, works from the art collection of the City of Burgdorf, which includes around 700 works, are represented in larger numbers. Chronologically, the exhibition begins with landscapes and a self-portrait each by Cuno Amiet and Max Buri. The view from the Lueg Pass, just seen in the photographs, is encountered again as a painting. As the tour progresses, visitors come across various Emmental houses from past and present and other landscapes finely drawn to generously painted. Ruth Steiner is represented with a colourful view of Burgdorf. More abstract and small-scale works by Hans Kohler, active in the field of Art Brut, and Jürg Grünig are also exhibited. A small group of works revolves around Thorberg Castle (since 1893 a correctional facility in the municipality of Krauchthal) with documentary photographs by inmate Henri Georges Delacour and a sculpture created in prison by Romanian anti-communist activist Oliviu Beldeanu. The “Denkwand” (Thinking Wall) by Heinz Egger from his Burgdorf studio, to which he pinned his sketches, thoughts, newspaper cuttings and other material, is also displayed. On a long pedestal, we show a group of contemporary ceramics by Rebecca Mäder, Sangwoo Kim, Aschi Rüfenacht and Erika Fankhauser Schürch, whose stoneware reliefs each depict one square kilometer of the Emmental.
The exhibition was curated by Anna Wesle and Catharina Vogel.