Reflections from the enduring life

In 1925, the legendary exhibitionNeue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) took place in Mannheim, giving its name to an entire art movement. As a tribute to this epoch, the Kunst Museum Winterthur is showing an exhibition that brings together three different but spiritually connected artistic positions, all of which are closely related to New Objectivity: Niklaus Stoecklin, Liselotte Moser and Louisa Gagliardi. The title refers to Adorno's important workMinima Moralia. Reflections from a Damaged Life, which he wrote in American exile and which deals with the conditions of being human in the 20th century, as do - in their own way - the three artists in the exhibition.

The Basel artist Niklaus Stoecklin (1896-1982) was one of the pioneers of New Objectivity art in Switzerland and was himself represented at the Mannheim exhibition of 1925 - the only non-German artist to do so. Today, he is one of the best-known names in 20th century Swiss art. However, the Lucerne painter Liselotte Moser (1906-1983), who was born ten years later, has yet to be discovered. She spent most of her life in the USA, where she emigrated at the age of 21. Her painting is based on the pictorial language of New Objectivity and American Realism; it is characterized by modern life in Detroit as well as by inner searching and questioning. Her work was first shown in Europe at the Nidwalden Museum in 2022.

The most recent position in the exhibition is also a real discovery: Louisa Gagliardi (*1989). The artist from Valais, who lives in Zurich, is one of the country's up-and-coming female artists and her art is very much in the tradition of figurative painting pioneered by Vallotton and New Objectivity. With her sober, distanced yet spectacular paintings, she enriches the historical focus of the show and combines the historical dialog with the here and now.

Curated by Andrea Lutz and David Schmidhauser

Contributors and additional information:

Niklaus Stoecklin

Liselotte Moser

Louisa Gagliardi