Adolf Wölfli.
Writer, poet, draftsman, composer

It was not until the age of 35 that Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) turned to art at Waldau Psychiatric Hospital. In his small cell there, the traumatised handyman worked tirelessly as a draftsman, composer and writer on his Skt. Adolf=Riesen=Schöpfung, which would unfold over 25’000 pages. 

He weaved coloured pencil drawings, lines of music and whirling prose together into an intoxicating work of art, without a millimetre of free space. Wölfli thus created an œuvre unique in the art of the 20th century, whose poetic power continues to move us to this day. The cabinet-like show by the Adolf Wölfli-Stiftung condenses this powerful universe into an intimate encounter.

Curator: Hilar Stadler