The Butterflies' Ball and the Dogs' Party. Ernst Kreidolf and the Animals, 21.06. - 29.09.2013
Of Dogs, Butterflies and Other Creatures
The Kunstmuseum Bern is mounting an exhibition of around 150 works by Ernst Kreidolf (Bern 1863–1956 Bern) to commemorate his 150th birthday. The show gives our visitors again the opportunity of admiring the fascinating oeuvre of this famous and popular illustrated-book artist. Original studies for the illustrated books Sommervögel, Lenzgesind, and Hundefest are among the exhibits that can be viewed at the Kunstmuseum Bern. Additionally the exhibition is presenting drawings and sketches from his early work that have never been shown to the general public before. The Kunstmuseum Bern organized the exhibition jointly with the Städtische Wessenberg Galerie in Constance and the Ernst Kreidolf Foundation and Association.
The show explores the role animals play in Ernst Kreidolf’s illustrated universe. Besides plants, they are a key feature of his work.
A great understanding of the nature of animals
Kreidolf was
strongly influenced by the life on his grandparents’ farm in Tägerwilen, where
he spent his youth and childhood. During the summer Kreidolf would help on the farm,
while in winter he spent many hours drawing what he had been able to observe in
his rural surroundings. Already at school he stood out on account of his great
proficiency in drawing animals and plants. His point of departure was nature
itself, and this was true for his later work too. Kreidolf’s great talent lay
not only in representing nature with astounding exactness; his pictures too demonstrate
a profound understanding of the nature of animals. Kreidolf was interested in
almost all animas. But his special loves were cats and dogs and, among the
insects, grasshoppers and butterflies. He
would often imbue animals with anthropomorphic traits, just as he was fond of
doing with plants. And despite this, we can always precisely identify what species
of animals or insects figure in a composition, while his knack for depicting
their characteristic behavior is so convincing that they never strike us as
artificial in the roles he has them play. This aspect of his art is especially impressive
in the illustrated books "Sommervögel" (1908), "Lenzgesind" (1926), and "Hundefest" (1928), books for which Kreidolf also wrote the texts, basing them
on drawings he had already executed.
Revolutionary illustrated books
Kreidolf’s
illustrated books are considered revolutionary for the times in which he lived.
They focus less on moral issues, and the pictures are much more imaginative,
colorful, and have less dark and somber tones than other illustrated books. Kreidolf
was able to represent the magical and dreamlike in a matter-of-fact way. And he
not only achieved this in his portrayals of nature; Kreidolf’s illustrations are
sometimes, too, excursions into the realms of the mythical and the visionary. In
his eyes, the miniature world was as rich and meaningful as the wide world was
to others. All these facets ultimately provided the foundations for the great
success of his illustrated books, which today are still highly valued and constantly
being reprinted.
Familiar scenes and rarities
The exhibition presents Kreidolf’s
popular creations together with seldom or never before publicly exhibited works
that engage with the topic of animals. It comprises six sections. The
artist's early work is the prime focus in the introductory section to his art, work
that combines an artistic curiosity vying with that of a natural scientist and
a great talent in realistic depiction and its conventions. The following
sections are structured according to the creatures inhabiting his art: dogs,
butterflies, grasshoppers and other insects, imaginary and mythical beings
together with other animals.
The presentation comprises largely works from the holdings of the Ernst Kreidolf Association, holdings that are kept at the Kunstmuseum Bern.
Contact: Brigit Bucher, , T +41 31 328 09 21
Images: Marie Louise Suter, , T +41 31 328 09 53
